Peeking Past the Lid
by LadyDi
Summary: Sequel to Keeping a Lid on It. Lucy wants to remember a dream she had during the Grand Magic Games so she can make literature about it and finds a magic potion that may help her. She ends up stumbling onto something much more dark, yet exciting, possibly more enticing than she ever thought would happen to her.
1. Chapter 1

The Grand Magic Games had finally come to a close. The dragons had been defeated and the city had been returned to normal. Fairy Tail was once again recognized for what it was: an amazing guild with powerful mages. Lucy couldn't have been happier to know that the people whom she loved and admired and respected so much were no longer the fools of scorn.

It had been a momentous event in more ways than one. So much had happened. Lucy had seen herself die and felt a new lease on life that she was going to live every day to its fullest. She remembered Natsu's constant words of optimism of never giving up and mentally wished she could engrave them into her personality a little more each day and strive to do what he always said when things got tough.

It was kind of sad to leave Crocus, but all good stories had to have an ending and she was kind of looking forward to going back home. It was almost quaint to be in the room with everyone and spend the time to just paint her toes like she did. She was sad and happy at the same time when she saw Wendy pull up with the carriage to take them home. But a bit of her cringed at the thought of it carrying them ALL back home.

They were forced to stop along the way, barely reaching the outskirts of the city, when Natsu looked ready to finally lose any breakfast he had before they left. Not wanting the carriage to reek with no way to clean it, the group practically shoved him out to get him outside.

Lucy got out and stretched, feeling the fantastic sun on her skin and inhaled the landscape deeply with a smile. Such nice, fresh air! She watched Natsu practically pass out on a rock and smiled as she sat a little ways away. She let him recuperate while she sat down amongst the field of wildflowers and started picking them off for a crown with Wendy. She listened to Natsu's and Gray's banter about his inability to handle movement and giggled. How nostalgic it was to be doing this right now! "You'll just have to suck it up for a little more." She interjected, mostly focusing on her work.

"Hey, hey Natsu...what are you going to do when we get home?"

"Let's see...Well, I wanna go on a bunch of fun quests."

"I wanna go fishing!"

Her ears perked up at her team's words. She didn't mind that they did some more missions because she was going to need the rent money soon. Plus, she wanted to do something normal now that the games were over. But there was actually something else she had in mind first.

"What about you Lucy-san? What do you want to do after we get home?"

She looked to Wendy. "Hmm...I came up with an idea for a story at the Grand Magic Games so maybe I'll finally get back to my novel writing."

"What's the story about?"

"It's a secret!"

Actually it was kind of embarrassing is what it was. There was an amazing dream she had during her time in the infirmary which had given her an idea for a story, but there was no way she was going to show it to anyone! It was hard to remember the dream exactly, but the fragments that she could remember now sparked her muse to want to create something from it. The idea was weak, but the inspiration was there. She had a feeling this was going to be a great story! However...due to the idea she had, she would rather die than tell anyone about it. She wrote all sorts of genres and this...this wasn't going to be something she wanted Wendy to know about...

The problem was that she was forgetting those details that she managed to remember after she rudely jolted awake while having it. Not just because she interrupted her sleeping process, but also due to the Games going on and then the dragon invasion. There was too much to worry about first before thinking she could work on her hobby. The dream almost seemed now like it had never happened and Lucy sincerely hoped that she could recall it because she had a feeling it would make for really great literature! She would just need to take some time and brainstorm on some paper to see if any of it came back to her.

She didn't have any time for that when they got home however. There was such a warm homecoming awaiting them that Lucy forgot all about her plan to work on her writing. She was amazed and touched at the amount of people that came to see them home. She tried not to cry in front of them and instead show her thanks in her brilliant smile.

They had saved the world and won the games; it seemed only fitting that they got their previous guild back from before the seven year gap. It truly was like coming home and things just felt right. Things were turning back in their own way and Lucy's heart swelled at the generosity of the mayor and the townsfolk. She wished to memorize this feeling and this scene forever. Perhaps she could use this as inspiration for another short story in the future...

Finding her landlady in the crowd was a curse and a blessing. She liked the old woman, but the mention of rent money made her flinch. She wasn't going to be allotted any actual time off it seemed. She knew she was going to have to go on a mission soon because Natsu wanted to go, but she didn't think she'd need to do so this soon! All she wanted was a small break to relax and think about that elusive dream that she had.

Oddly enough, she ended up picking their job that turned out be the weirdest thing. Stupid mole hunting in all that mud! She had to shower three times to get rid of that stench in her hair, not to mention how bad her clothes were!

She refused to take on a job after that until she got something written down. Notes or short stories or brainstorms...anything so that she didn't lose this idea she had! Her rent was paid even after having less of the reward money between the five of them and she was fine for a few more days. She would worry about next month after she did this. Natsu would just have to understand. It wasn't like he and Happy would be bored; there was the guild to hang out with, people to challenge, fishing to do... He'd be fine, she just knew it.

In order to keep him away, she wrote "Keep out" and "Do not disturb" and "Don't come inside" on some papers and put them on her windows so he would see from the street. She didn't bother with the front door because that had a lock and she knew Natsu never bothered using the actual door! Hopefully he would respect her wish for a day before he barged in! She wasn't too hopeful as it was with these current precautions...

She sat at her desk, twirling her pen idly in one hand as she stared at the blank page. How many minutes had it been already? How many hours had it felt like? The more she thought about this, the more it ran away from her. All this white her eyes were staring at seemed to mock her. Ah, the cursed writer's block. How she hated it with a passion. It had defeated her so many times when she didn't know how to begin something. The bane of any writer's ability...

Forcing herself to remember was only going to have the opposite effect. Really, it would be best if she could focus on one or two things and then tried to get some sleep and see what it produced, but she hadn't had that dream since her time in the infirmary. Lucy finally leaned back in her chair with a frustrated sigh.

How could she pull something out of her subconscious? Was such a thing even possible? She sat there and pondered that ability. She didn't know much of anything about it, but she knew someone who might. She got off the chair and headed to where her keys were kept. She grabbed a silver one and summoned Crux and had him search for her. His information wasn't as good as she wanted, but she thanked him for trying anyway.

"I guess I'll do this the old-fashioned way..." Grabbing her keys and some jewels, she headed out and marched directly to a bookstore. She searched high and low on the shelves for anything that had to do with dreams. She finally found a book titled 'How to Remember Your Dreams' and eagerly flipped it open. What she saw wasn't very inspiring.

Most of the book was about waking up constantly to get in the habit of being in the middle of the dream before it was forgotten and then write down as much as one could remember. 'Record your dreams? That's what I'm trying to do here! I'm not getting up at all hours of the night just to practice remembering what I dream about when all I want is one in particular!' If she had the ability to write the dream down then she wouldn't be in the bookstore in the first place! 'Wait...'

" _Cling_ _to_ _any_ _clues_ _of_ _what_ _you_ _might_ _have_ _been_ _experiencing:_ _moods,_ _feelings,_ _fragments_ _of_ _images,_ _and_ _try_ _to_ _rebuild_ _a_ _story_ _from_ _them._ _When_ _you_ _recall_ _a_ _scene,_ _try_ _to_ _recall_ _what_ _happened_ _before_ _that,_ _and_ _before_ _that,_ _reliving_ _the_ _dream_ _in_ _reverse._ _If_ _you_ _can_ _recall_ _nothing,_ _try_ _imagining_ _a_ _dream_ _you_ _might_ _have_ _had_ _-_ _note_ _your_ _present_ _feelings,_ _list_ _your_ _current_ _concerns_ _to_ _yourself,_ _and_ _ask_ _yourself,_ _'Did_ _I_ _dream_ _about_ _that?'_ _Even_ _if_ _you_ _can't_ _recall_ _anything_ _in_ _bed,_ _events_ _or_ _scenes_ _of_ _the_ _day_ _may_ _remind_ _you_ _of_ _something_ _you_ _dreamed_ _the_ _night_ _before._ _Be_ _ready_ _to_ _notice_ _this_ _when_ _it_ _happens,_ _and_ _record_ _whatever_ _you_ _remember."_

She sighed and put the book back. Interesting, but not what she was really hoping for, although she noted that point for possible use later. She kept searching the titles, finding a book that used magic to remember dreams. She pulled it from the shelf and leafed through it a bit.

" _This_ _spell_ _will_ _help_ _you_ _remember_ _your_ _dreams,_ _and_ _after_ _a_ _while_ _(the_ _time_ _varies)_ _you_ _can_ _even_ _lucid_ _dream!"_

She eagerly scanned the next few pages and ultimately decided to take the book home. She paid for it and headed out. The next stop was a magic shop. She used the list from the book and paid for everything before hurrying back to her apartment. She put everything on the table and opened the book to the page with the spell. She mixed all the ingredients and suddenly noted that it had to sit for an hour before being used. "What? But I was hoping to use it after I put all the stuff away!" She groused, head drooping with a sigh.

What did she do for an hour? She was going to lose her muse at this rate! She reread the instructions again, hoping to find something more about the wait. "Do not take before at least one hour has passed. The effects will be unpleasant?!" She flinched, hoping this wasn't a total waste of jewels and her writing time. Was this thing reputable? Her eyes scanned the pages. "This spell is best done when you are going to sleep..."

Lucy sighed and resigned herself to wait. All this wasted time! She was going to end up with nothing by the time she got done and be no better than just trying to think this up. Natsu was going to show up and demand she stop ignoring him and she would have nothing to show for cloistering herself in her room for so long.

She put the items in storage and checked the clock to gauge her agony. It was almost dinnertime; too soon to take if it was supposed to be at bedtime. She could always have something to eat and a bath at least. She closed the book and gathered everything in her arms. At least one hour...so the minimum was possibly more than one? What did it mean the effects will be unpleasant? She decided to ponder the writing as she headed to her kitchen for a snack.

The whole time she spent cooking, she was worried that Natsu was going to barge in and demand they all have dinner together. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary when she got back from the bookstore and it would've been hard to miss if Natsu entered her immaculate apartment. His house was alone was proof of his messiness!

After the dishes were taken care of, She saw she had managed to kill fifty minutes of cooking her food and getting the place cleaned up. Surely ten minutes wasn't anything detrimental for the hour? Lucy's hand reached out and paused just before grabbing the container. Teeth bit her lip as she hesitated. "Do not take before at least one hour has passed. The effects will be unpleasant..." She mumbled, eyes boring holes into her experiment. She must have waited at least another two minutes as she hesitated and finally decided that the time was close enough. She grabbed the container and downed it, almost gagging against the taste. "Nasty!"

After a quick trip to the kitchen for some water, Lucy headed to the shower. She decided to soak in the tub and thus indulged herself after so long away from the quaint room. She sunk down with a happy sigh and stared at the ceiling. She watched the steam rise in silence, still wondering what the spell would show her. How was it supposed to help her remember a dream that she had once and how many days, or weeks, ago? She only remembered that the setting was in Crocus and that was probably due to the fact that so much was going on at the time. Of course she would have dreams about that city.

What she knew of dreams was that you often dealt with things on the unconscious level that couldn't be figured out whilst awake when you were asleep. A dream could be anything from a premonition to common events in your life that carried over to trying to figure something out. She didn't know which one it was, but she was really expectant to experience it again! Maybe if she was lucky, she'd be able to do as that one book said and get up immediately after it was over and record all of it so that she had her story plot.

She mentally crossed her fingers and closed her eyes. A contented sigh escaped as the water heated her from neck to toe. A hot bath was the best thing in the world. It was great for cold nights too.

 _Through the_ _chill_ _of_ _the_ _night_ _with_ _the_ _lack_ _of_ _warm_ _clothes_ _she wore,_ _and_ _how_ _wet_ _they_ _still_ _were,_ _he_ _was_ _so_ _warm._ _Her_ _mindset_ _changed_ _from_ _sadness_ _to_ _needing_ _to_ _keep_ _warm._ _Heat...glorious_ _warmth._

Her eyes shot open, looking at the ceiling yet not really seeing it. Her brows furrowed in confusion, wondering where that came from. Her heart was suddenly pounding, but it wasn't from the heat of the water. A shot of adrenaline had coursed through her so quickly that she thought she was being attacked. A shaking hand raised from the water, bringing forth dripping noises to break the stillness. 'What...was that?' She stared at her dripping, trembling hand.

 _She_ _splashed_ _more_ _water_ _on_ _her_ _face_ _to_ _hide_ _the_ _smell_ _of_ _tears_ _as_ _he_ _kept_ _walking_ _her_ _way._

She sat up quickly, ignoring the splash of overflow to the ground below, staring at her knees. What was this? Why was she seeing this? Where was it coming from?! She tried to get her breathing under control.

 _Her_ _eyes_ _closed_ _as_ _the_ _sound_ _of_ _crashing_ _water_ _filled_ _her_ _with_ _peace._ _She_ _needed_ _this_ _break,_ _this_ _solitude,_ _this_ _sanctuary._ _Things_ _had_ _been_ _so_ _hectic_ _in_ _more_ _ways_ _than_ _one_ _and_ _there_ _had_ _been_ _nothing_ _like_ _this_ _moment_ _for_ _what_ _seemed_ _a_ _very_ _long_ _time._

A hand gripped her face, still trembling from the adrenaline rush...or was it from the hot water? Was her heartbeat from the bath or what was happening to her? She didn't know right now; she couldn't tell them apart. Was the potion working? She thought it was supposed to show her a dream, but she vaguely felt like this actually happened. Did she dream it too?

"Maybe it's time I got out..." She mumbled, slowly standing. The room was still hot and steam was everywhere. She stared at the doorway as she adjusted to the temperature and being vertical. She didn't experience anything else and wracked her brain for what those images and thoughts were. Were they...memories? When? Where? How long ago were they from?

'He' was warm...? Her eyes narrowed as she got out and grabbed a towel. She teetered a little and caught herself before falling. She was dizzy; did she spend too much time soaking? She needed to get into the cold and cool off a bit. She prayed the dizziness wasn't a side effect of the potion and her not obeying the rules.

" _You're_ _nice_ _and_ _warm_ _Natsu..._ _It's_ _cold_ _out_ _here."_

Her head shook to clear itself. Natsu? What was he doing in her dream...or was it memories? Not that Natsu wasn't always in her memories; they were friends and partners. Of course he'd be a part of her memories! She left the bathroom and made a beeline for her clothes, not wanting to be stuck in the nude if Natsu ignored all her signs and barged in overnight.

" _You're so nice Natsu! You always get hurt because of me and yet you don't hate me for it! You always help me whenever I'm sad and you always know how to say the right things to make me feel better. You really are the best guy in the world!"_

Her face flushed even more. Did she really say that to him or did she hopefully just dream it?! Oh god if she did, she would never be able to look him in the eye! That almost sounded like a confession!

The dizziness wasn't going away even in the minutes after she left the bathroom. She wasn't hot anymore; in fact she was quite cold with her hair still soaking wet. She threw it up in a towel and went to the book. She tried to find the page she needed for side effects and warnings, but all the eye movement wasn't helping her and she gave up.

She was getting nauseous from standing and her room twirling. She leaned over the table, trying to take slow breaths. She was so confused! Natsu? What was this all about? She wondered what else she would see, but was starting to become afraid. Those words that floated through her ears were so heartfelt and honest...even if they were true. But she had never thought they would be said with as embarrassing as they were!

She wasn't safe standing. She stumbled the few paces to her bed and flopped onto the mattress, barely getting her legs onto it. The towel came apart and obscured her vision.

 _She grabbed a black shirt that she suddenly spotted peeking from her bag and tossed it over his eyes._

She was practically shaking like a leaf in a wind storm as this vision assaulted her. She tried to take proper breaths before she started hyperventilating. She stared at the towel barely an inch from her eyes. His eyes? Natsu's eyes?! No...that must be wrong...why would she do that? A shaking hand reached up to the other side of the bed, trying to pull her all the way onto it.

 _She startled when she felt a touch on her hip. Her skin picked up the trembling, warm contact of his rough hands. She took note that his lips were also shaking. In fact, there wasn't a spot which she felt that was still._

Her head was foggy and thinking clearly was difficult. Her heart was running away from her. Her face was still red and she was sure her ears and neck were too. She still had a huge adrenaline rush, but something now mixed in with it that was scary and delicious at the same time. Was the potion showing her a dream she had? Was this it? Even still...what was this?! His hands were trembling...and they were touching her hip? Why? Why were his lips shaking?

How could this have actually happened to her? She didn't remember any of this! Natsu was just her friend! Natsu! "Natsu..." She panted. "W...what's...happening...to me?" Blackness was invading her senses. Her feet were numb. Her head felt so heavy. She tried to grab the towel and pull it off her so she didn't suffocate. "Natsu...h – help...me..." The last thing Lucy felt was the pulsating in her hands from such a heavy rush of blood before she sunk into the bed and lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

_She_ _was_ _warm_ _from_ _her_ _face_ _to_ _her_ _toes_ _and_ _her_ _torso_ _was_ _even_ _hotter._ _She_ _was_ _laying_ _on_ _something_ _nice_ _and_ _comfortable_ _and_ _strong._ _She_ _couldn't_ _tell_ _what_ _was_ _up_ _from_ _down_ _right_ _now_ _and_ _thinking_ _about_ _sitting_ _up_ _just_ _made_ _her_ _dizzy._ _Why_ _did_ _she_ _want_ _to_ _get_ _up?_ _It_ _was_ _so_ _nice_ _here..._

" _C – can_ _you_ _maybe...get_ _off_ _me_ _now?"_

 _Why? She was perfectly content to stay here. There was darkness where her eyes were, but it wasn't a fearful type of dark. There was a smell assaulting her nose that was very pleasant, dare she say addictive. She wanted to breathe it in and attach it to her lungs._

 _She finally acquiesced to the request and told her limbs to move. They weren't listening to her very well and she told them again to shift from their spots. They dragged over something moveable and she wondered what it was. The item she was on seemed to turn up a degree, if that was even possible, when her hands shifted from their positions around something warm. She barely felt the touch of hot skin in her frenzied, befuddled state. It was the best combination of heat on her front and chill on her back. It made her crave touching that heat even more._

 _All of a sudden, her strong support turned shaky and weak. It shivered everywhere she was touching. But instead of being afraid that she would fall from it, she intensely liked the feeling. It made her heart leap and made her shake in response. It was delectable. When she finally managed to push herself up to a sitting stance, she slowly took note of slightly tanned skin followed by pink tufts._

 _Her heart was racing. She had no idea just what she was doing, but all logical thought had flown out the window the second she noticed Natsu's reaction to her. His eyes were infectious and she couldn't stop looking at him. He really was easy on the eyes all over... She harshly swallowed as she stared at him._

 _She suddenly tuned in to the feel of his body under hers, the wild gallop of his heart, and the slight tremble in his arms. He was warm, he was breathing heavily, he was seriously flushed... She had read, and written, way too many romance novels in her day to not know what this all meant. Her face flushed, if that was even possible, as they locked eyes. She froze, unable to look away at the depths of his eyes, suddenly realizing that this close up he was rather handsome._

Her eyes jolted open and squeezed close at how the room spun. The darkness was nice and welcome as she tried to regain her senses. She felt all messed up; her heart was about to beat out of her chest, she was hot, her entire body was trembling, and she was feeling something she hadn't experienced before. She almost thought it was quite nice to feel, but she didn't know why. What happened? Teeth gnashed her quivering lip.

After agonizing minutes, Lucy managed to open her eyes again and look around. The room was dark. What day was it? How long had she been unconscious? She felt something on her head and sort of recalled not being able to dry her hair properly before everything happened. She slowly pulled the towel from her head, noting it was still wet. She hadn't been out long if her towel hadn't even dried yet.

Finally managing to sit up, she was thankful for the lack of light in the room. If it was daytime, she didn't know if she would be able to handle it. At least with the room obscured, it wouldn't affect her more. Stimuli seemed to make things worse.

She sat on her bed, realizing that she was still shaking and had that strange feeling. She tried to take a few deep breaths to calm down. A hand went to her head and massaged her temples.

" _The effects will be unpleasant..."_

Was all this due to the potion she drank before the hour was up? Just a mere eight minute different?! The dizziness she could assume, but the feelings? She had no clue...she needed to get more answers from that book! She thought she had all the information that she needed in order to do this. And what was that she had seen?

" _Cling to any clues of what you might have been experiencing: moods, feelings, fragments of images, and try to rebuild a story from them..."_

There was no way she was able to get up yet with as unsteady as she was, so she tried to think as much as possible and commit it to memory until she could get to her pen. She wracked her head for anything she remembered, eyes squeezing shut. "Heat...intense...shaking...skin...pink...sitting up...red face...Natsu..." She paused when his name flowed from her lips. Huh? What?! Why Natsu? With those words? She named them off again, trying to connect them and recollect everything.

If those things were either from her or Natsu, she had a feeling this was not a road she wanted to adventure down! Who was shaking? Whose face was all red? Why was it so intense? Who was sitting up?!

Lucy gripped the towel, finally able to stand. She carefully walked through the room in the dark and put the towel up to hang dry. She noted her hair was still damp and re-wrapped it in a dry one. Heading directly for her desk, she turned on the lamp and grabbed her pen. She quickly jotted all the words on paper, not trying to make sentences. The words filled the page in all angles. It seemed to fit in her disjointed, confused state.

When she felt like everything had been written down that she could recall, Lucy leaned back against the chair heavily and stared at them blankly. The dizziness was gone, as was the strange feeling and the shaking was almost nonexistent, but her heartbeat was still a little fast after she put the pen down. None of it made sense! How had this happened? It was a dream right?! The potion was supposed to show her a dream, so why did it feel so familiar? Was it because she had already dreamed it?

She jolted to her feet, almost knocking back the chair, and grabbed the book from its resting place. She plopped back in the chair and poured over it again, trying to find any other hint that would help her sort out all these odd clues. "Do not take too often or too much for fear of side effects..." Her eyes widened. Just what had she purchased? This wasn't just some random, cute little spell!

Her hands went dead at her sides as she stared at it, somewhat worried to have even taken one application. Just how much did too often or too much indicate? Were two too much? Was too often over a span of days or years or hours? She didn't know anything about this spell before finding this book. Who else would know about dream spells?

She tried to remember the magic of everyone in the guild and the only one she knew who could do anything with sleep was Mystogan when he put them to sleep after having returned to the guild that one time. She had just joined when he showed up so she didn't know anything about his abilities, even now. He wasn't even in her world anymore so that made things difficult.

She went back to the book. She needed to know how long each potion lasted. The book didn't even mention a specific time for that either. Was the spell done now that she had woken up? How long would it last in her system for? Teeth gripped her lip as she flipped through pages, paranoia not helping her case right now. The only noise inside the four walls was the sound of paper moving and her almost erratic breathing.

The book didn't mention how long it stayed in her body. Her jaw clenched. That wasn't good; she didn't want to be afflicted at some random time of day with the effects she had been prey to since having drank it. This was turning out to be a strange rabbit hole she had fallen through. Her brow furrowed. Maybe she could ask Crux about the book before much more time passed. But she didn't want to bother him right now since it may be night in the Spirit World. Her spirits had their own lives and as she always found out from summoning Aquarius, she would pay if she summoned them at the wrong time, contractually obligated or not.

The sound of something hitting her window made her jump and scream. Her eyes whipped to the direction. Nothing happened. She tried to get her breathing under control when it suddenly whipped open. She jumped and screamed again, falling out of the chair this time. She clutched the book as her only weapon.

"What's wrong Lucy?!"

She instantly picked up Natsu's voice, but wasn't relieved in the slightest. The dream came back to her as did all the emotions she had experienced. She scrambled out from under the chair and stared at him in the poor lighting. He hopped off her bed and quickly headed her way. She backed up a step and jerked when his arm suddenly grabbed hers. "Natsu?!"

She was breathing heavily and her heartbeat was faster than he had heard it. He could smell sweat from her face and she was shaking under his hand. His eyes racked over her face, her tousled hair, and her pajamas, checking to see if she'd been struck or injured. His other arm grabbed her free arm and pulled her closer. "Lucy, what's wrong?! Why did you scream? Was someone trying to attack you?"

She blinked, trying to get her wits about her with him so close. The fact that he was lightly shaking her wasn't helping. "A – a...ttack? No...it's only me here Natsu. No one has been here all night aside from you now."

He sighed in relief and let her go. He stepped back and looked around the room. "Why are your lights on? I thought you were asleep?" His eyes noted the paper and pen on her desk. "What are you doing writing now?"

She didn't even register the question of her being asleep or how he knew when he moved. She yanked on his scarf when he went to look at her desk. "Don't read it!" Anything but that! She twirled him around and bypassed him to quickly cover up the notes she had made. A hand went to her head as things started to get overwhelming again. This wasn't good; she had to calm down!

He took a step back and watched her and the reaction she had. A brow rose. "Are you SURE you're okay? What's with you?" He sniffed the room. "What's that smell?"

If he found out about the potion, she was never going to live this down! Even if there was no physical evidence in here, he would be able to smell it! "I – I don't know what you're talking about!" She felt air on her head and suddenly realized that her towel wasn't attached anymore. Quickly grabbing it, she tossed it at his face to distract him and hopefully confuse his nose for a second. "Maybe you're smelling my shampoo! I showered and didn't get to dry my hair before I fell asleep."

He batted the towel away to the floor. "Naw, I know what your shampoo smells like and it's not that."

She had to get him out of here. But how? She didn't really want him going out her window again, but drastic times called for drastic measures! "Why are you here? Didn't I put up signs to tell you to keep out!?" She tried pushing him toward the open window. "Go on now!"

He easily resisted her pathetic efforts to overpower him and twirled out of her reach. "What's with you? Why are you acting so odd?" He scrutinized at her face, not hindered by the low lighting. "You're all red and you smell sweaty. You said you showered; what happened to you?"

If possible, she got even more red. She froze under his eyes and panicked. All liable explanations died in her head.

 _She suddenly found herself unable to look into his eyes, but there was no way she could get him to stop staring. He was boring holes into her with wide, shocked eyes._

Her head shook. Not now! Not with him here! She was even more confused with that though. 'Wide, shocked eyes?' Why was he staring? Was 'he' Natsu? She didn't want to think about it right now!

"Why are you here so late?" She rerouted, putting a hand to her head.

She was acting nothing like the normal Lucy he knew and it was beginning to worry him. She didn't smell sick and though it looked like she had a fever, she didn't act sick. His brows furrowed at her question. "What do you mean so late? It's not even ten yet!"

"What?" How long had she been asleep for? What time did she pass out? "Not - not...ten... But, why are you here? I put up signs..."

It was official: he was concerned. His arms crossed at her mention of the signs. "I heard that there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight till morning. You like stars and all that right? I saw a few and thought you'd like to join me. Happy and I already had been watching for almost half an hour when I tossed that rock at your window."

Why wasn't Happy there too? She didn't care. She also didn't want to be up right now feeling as she did and go see some shooting stars...even if it sounded fun... Had she been feeling like herself, maybe she might have put her writing on hold and gone with, but not right now.

She walked around him and grabbed the towel to put it away. She had to get away from Natsu right now. If she had been somehow, someway involved with him, she didn't want to be near him until she could fully remember what happened. As it was, she was all turned around and the fog going on in her head couldn't be shaken off. In fact, just having Natsu around to look at made things worse.

 _His eyes were infectious and she couldn't stop looking at him. He really was easy on the eyes all over..._

Her teeth clenched as she was assaulted again. She turned to leave the bathroom when she found him in the doorway. Lucy started with a gasp. "You scared me!" She retorted, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She stared at him in silence through the dark. "What?"

He strode up to her, stopping mere inches from her face, and stared into her panicked, wide eyes. "You've been acting weird since I came in here and you've been trying to get me to leave even though I haven't seen you naked. What's going on?"

She harshly swallowed and backed up. She didn't want him knowing about this; she didn't even really know what it meant herself! She took a step back and bumped into the tub, jumping from the sudden contact. The cold bit into the back of her ankle, but she barely felt it for the heat running through her veins. Her heart kicked into overdrive and she worried he could hear it. Oh god...what if he was listening to it right now?!

Natsu studied her face in total befuddlement as to her erratic actions. He listened to her breathing and heartbeat in the silence. He subtly inhaled and found a mix of shampoo and soap and sweat and...oh...no... His eyes suddenly widened as he took an instinctive step backward, still looking at her. Memories rushed back through his head as that familiar smell made him think of what he had tried so hard to forget. That's what he had been smelling since he got inside!

After that night it had been easy to bypass with all that was going on. The Games...the dragons...the panic...future Lucy's death...the battles... His face flamed as everything came back in a second. He was almost shaking alone from the thought of it all. Lucy being so close only compounded things in an agonizing way. He stopped breathing for fear that he would keep smelling her and it would only drive him as insane as it had that night...or more. He was in her room and it was everywhere; he was screwed! He had no control in that time and he was quickly losing it now.

They stared at each other in the dark, one able to see better than the other. They seemed frozen like that for the longest time until Natsu eventually took another step backward. Lucy jumped at the movement and it seemed to break the spell. He whirled and exited the room. He didn't know what was going on here, didn't understand what she had been doing up until now, but he could only think of getting away. He hadn't been able to get away at that time, but this time he wasn't pinned to the floor by a drunken Lucy.

She stood there at a total loss, disarrayed physically and emotionally. She could only look at the lighted doorway with baffled eyes. She heard rustling and her brain snapped to as she rushed out of the room. "Natsu!" She paused in the doorway, unsure of what was going on or what to do. What did she say that was correct? She felt like she needed to fix this.

He paused with his back to her, arms ready to push him out the window. He tried to find words, but they were difficult. He froze like that, tuning in to her voice and gritting his teeth. "Later." He mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say.

She watched him jump and then he was gone. She stared helplessly, wondering what in the world just happened. She stared at the floor, trying to figure it all out. She was understandably freaked out, but what had happened to Natsu? Why did he run away like that? From what she could see, he was shocked about something. She thought she could see something on his face aside from the shock, but didn't want to get closer to make it out better.

She slowly made her way over to the desk, to where everything started. She absently stared at the book, desperately trying to piece this all together. From what she could grasp from that potion-induced spell, something...not normal had happened between her and Natsu. He must know about it which meant it wasn't a dream...so then why did she dream it? Her hands turned to fists and pressed into her eyes. The pain felt good.

She didn't know what was going on, but she had to find out. She didn't know why this was a dream and why she was having it. Hands shot away from her eyes when a thought came back to her. 'You often deal with things on the unconscious level while asleep that can't be figured out whilst awake. A dream can be anything from a premonition to common events in your life that carries over to trying to figure something out...' Did this actually happen and for some reason she was unable to remember it so it was stowed away in her subconscious? How could she possibly forget something like this?!

"Do not take too often or too much for fear of side effects..." She whispered. She reread the book yet again for more hidden clues. She poured over the ingredients, the warnings, the usage.

" _This spell will help you remember your dreams, and after a while (the time varies) you can even lucid dream!"_

Lucy leaned against her chair as all this information whirled in her head. Hands went to her temples and pressed. She had to chance another potion; she had to know what happened between her and Natsu. She didn't want to let these forgotten memories to be so vague for her and so concrete for him. Natsu apparently knew more than she had, but from what she could figure out, she was perhaps the responsible one here. It was her duty to know what she did that made him like this.

She got up to make a second potion and paced for an agonizing hour before she picked up the container. She stared at it for what seemed forever, even after giving it a full sixty minutes. She hoped this worked! The book didn't list any actual side effects so she was going to have to keep track and make notes. She already had listed what happened to her after she woke up. She downed it and laid in bed, steeled gaze at the ceiling. She was going to be damned if she had that dizzy spell again while standing somewhere! This time, she would be ready.


	3. Chapter 3

_Her_ _clothes_ _were_ _all_ _wet...but_ _why?_ _Oh_ _that's_ _right...she_ _splashed_ _water_ _on_ _herself_ _when_ _she_ _was_ _outside._ _How_ _did_ _she_ _find_ _water?_ _Did_ _she_ _dump_ _it_ _from_ _a_ _cup_ _she_ _had?_ _Those_ _questions_ _hardly_ _mattered_ _at_ _all_ _right_ _now_ _as_ _she_ _focused_ _on_ _the_ _one_ _thing_ _that_ _seemed_ _to_ _help. "Can_ _I_ _dry_ _my_ _clothes_ _on_ _you?_ _You_ _did_ _such_ _a_ _good_ _job_ _earlier._ _See?_ _Most_ _of_ _my_ _shirt_ _is_ _already_ _dry."_

" _What?! N – no! What's wrong with you, stupid?! I'm not a clothes line! Go change and get in bed and go to sleep!"_

" _Why not? You're always so warm Natsu. It feels good. It won't take long, I promise." She beamed and stretched her arms out to hug him again. "C'mon...Hug me Natsu! I want a hug!" She wanted to return to his safe, secure embrace. What was the problem in hugging her? He never seemed to have much of a problem when she was sad. Well, she wasn't exactly sad right now, but she had been earlier. That's why she wanted to hug him again; she already had the chance and he was fine with that one._

" _Lucy! Stop! Lucy! Go change!"_

 _She was suddenly turned and almost fell over from the dizziness that she felt from it. Her back bumped the wall for a second before she tried advancing again. "I can't change Natsu. I don't have my stuff." She pushed forward again and again was held at bay with his strength. "Why don't you want me to hug you? I need help drying my clothes off and you help best with that!"_

 _She was unprepared to stop walking, let alone the odd angle her arms were bent at for that second before she was suddenly let go. She screamed that she would fall and hurt herself and clutched his clothes. She cringed and tried to shrink as much as possible on the way down. Oh please don't let her hit her head! She suddenly felt pressed against something and the back of her head said that everything would be okay now._

 _They stopped as fast as they had fallen and all was still. Her brain felt jarred and she remained as she was with her eyes closed. The heat returned to her and she almost melted against it. Her arms and legs went limp for a bit._

" _L – Lucy... are you okay?"_

 _Her eyes peeked open. She was being spoken to. It was a question of concern. She should answer him. Of course she was fine, thanks to him and his quick thinking. Her eyes looked up, but she didn't see anything resembling a face. That wouldn't do; she wanted to speak to him while looking into his eyes. She ordered her arms to move and they were sluggish. She was almost unaware of what it was she was touching, but her hands hooked onto something and she dragged herself upward._

 _She looked into his face. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the pain on his face. A hand moved and stroked his hair and he cringed at her touch. Her hand pulled away as if she had been burned. "Natsu? Are you okay?" Her eyes widened. "You're hurt. You got hurt because of me again..." Her eyes teared. Would she ever stop causing him trouble? "I'm sorry... This is my fault."_

" _It's fine Lucy... Don't worry about this. This isn't -"_

 _Lucy_ _hugged_ _him_ _suddenly,_ _nuzzling_ _his_ _neck_ _with_ _her_ _face. "You're_ _so_ _nice_ _Natsu!_ _You_ _always_ _get_ _hurt_ _because_ _of_ _me_ _and_ _yet_ _you_ _don't_ _hate_ _me_ _for_ _it!_ _You_ _always_ _help_ _me_ _whenever_ _I'm_ _sad_ _and_ _you_ _always_ _know_ _how_ _to_ _say_ _the_ _right_ _things_ _to_ _make_ _me_ _feel_ _better._ _You_ _really_ _are_ _the_ _best_ _guy_ _in_ _the_ _world!"_

" _L – Lucy...thanks...I guess... C – can you maybe...get off me now?"_

Her eyes popped open. She stared at the lighted ceiling for what seemed the longest time. This time the dream was a little more vivid. She sat up and shook her head a little to clear the cobwebs. As soon as possible, she jumped off the bed and hurried to her desk. She grabbed a blank sheet of paper and wrote as if possessed. She had to get this all down asap before it fell into her subconscious again!

When she finally halted, she stared at the jumbled words of her dream and the physical effects when she woke up. That strange feeling wasn't there like last time, but she felt a surge in her heart that she knew was affection because she felt this with her mother when she was a child. She was happy to be able to name this emotion at least, even though it didn't add any pieces to this huge jigsaw puzzle.

She rested her aching head in her hands, palms blocking her eyes. At last, she sat back in her chair and looked out the windows at the day. What time was it? She felt like the ability to keep track of minutes and hours was escaping her. She noted from her clock that it was just past breakfast and her eyes widened a little. All was quiet and empty in her apartment, save for herself. Usually, if she was gone this long in the morning, there would be a certain fire mage busting inside and wondering where she was.

She sighed. She needed to know that he was doing okay at least. She didn't know what to say or how to explain last night, but she wanted the relief that he hadn't suffered on her account for whatever she had done. She didn't think she could meet his eyes, but the time for full embarrassment could be later. Natsu needed answers in some form from her for her behavior last night.

How did she explain this though? Where did this latest group of images and words and emotions fit into what she had barely seen last night? What came first? Was she starting at the beginning or the ending? She had a feeling that Natsu could shed a lot of light on this, but given that he ran away as he had and gave that very curt response before exiting, she didn't think asking him about it was a good idea.

She rested her head in a palm and stared at the wall. Go and see him or stay here and continue to figure things out. Both sounded appealing. She could flip a coin and it wouldn't make a difference to her. She didn't want to be absent from the guild for too long though. Maybe she could clear her head if she just stopped in for a while...maybe take a look at the mission board...

She decided to head out and at least get some food. She didn't think she could even cook anything right now with as muddled as she felt. She would probably end up burning herself on the stove flames if this kept up.

 _Being able to be attached like this felt good and Lucy's bad mood melted away as she focused on Natsu's fire magic radiating from his body._

She paused in the process of putting her shorts on and nearly fell over as she off-settled. Was it really a good idea to go out when she was like this? She adjusted the belt holding her keys at her waist and decided to take the book with her and have Levy look at it. Her friend was a script mage; words were her thing. If anyone could find a hidden meaning in something, it was Levy. She picked it up and headed out the door.

She breathed in the fresh air and noted that the day was just gorgeous. She waved at the man in the boat who called a hello to her. She hopped onto the edge of the road right next to the stream and began her usual walk down the road.

 _She paused when the sound of gurgling water met her ears. She hadn't seen a stream or anything resembling water in the city so far and thus hurried over to the direction of the noise._

She fell into the stream with a splash, quickly coming to the surface with a sputter. She grabbed the hand of a passerby and was hauled over the side to the street. She mumbled a thanks, unable to look the person's way, and dumbly nodded to 'stop walking on the edge like that'. She stared at the puddle under her as she was left alone, not wanting to go all the way back to the apartment and drip water the whole way up. She was almost halfway to the guild as it was now.

She sighed and raised both hands to wring out her hair. She suddenly paused and jolted. The book! She looked around frantically for it, praying it hadn't fallen in with her. She hurled her torso over the edge and looked for the book amongst the slight waves. Nothing. She whirled around and scanned the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief that it had fallen away from the direction of the stream, probably where it had gotten flung on her way down. She snatched it up and checked it for any wet pages, but there were none. If this got wet, she didn't know what she'd do!

With the sun shining down and as warm as it was, by the time she got to the guild, she would pretty much be dried anyway so Lucy decided to continue on. She honestly didn't care right now with as messed up as her head was. It seemed almost appropriate that her outer appearance should match her inner turmoil. She needed to notate this for later, if she hadn't already written it down. She HAD written it down, hadn't she?

'Get a grip on yourself! I need to figure this out and I need this potion for that. I can't stop here.' She mentally steeled herself, thinking of how Natsu tried to think past a difficult situation as she noticed the familiar stone building come into sight. She stopped just a bit out from the main entrance and stared up at it. It was such a sight for sore eyes and she had missed it dearly ever since they came back from Tenroujima. She didn't dare come here after the relocation because it had been closed down and blockaded. She didn't want the guild to go through anything else just because she was nostalgic. Staring at it made her feel a little better and her head cleared a bit. She smiled and touched the stone wall.

 _She was met with a gorgeous sight of a stone fountain surrounded with flowers. Flowers pots dotted the ground and the middle section as well. Angels poured water from their empty containers at the very top and in between them was another huge pot fully blooming._

She stepped back and stumbled. She dropped the book in her haste to steady herself and hurried to retrieve it. She couldn't just go throwing it around! She couldn't fit it in her pockets though, so she chastised herself to keep a better grip on it. With a quick shake of her head, hoping no one else had seen that spectacle, she headed inside the open doors.

The noise was deafening, as it always was. It was heartwarming to hear the throng of the crowd bounce off the high walls of the main hall. She stopped to admire it with a small smile. After a second, she picked herself up and strode to the bar area, giving Mira a quick greeting and waved off the queries about her appearance. She ordered some food and watched her friend head off to go make it.

While she waited, Lucy twirled in the bar stool to check for Levy. She didn't see her friend close by though and realized a further search would be necessary. Or she could just ask Mira, who knew pretty much all the comings and goings of all members.

Lucy turned back when a quiet clunk sounded next to her arm. She turned and smiled at the heavenly smell that met her nose. "Thanks! I'm starved!" She grabbed the sandwich and suddenly paused. "Have you seen Levy around here this morning?"

Mira smiled. "She just got back from a quest I believe. I saw her here not that long ago..." Mira trailed off, eyes seeing into the great hall before lighting up. "There she is! She's over with Gajeel."

Lucy smiled. Why was she not surprised? She turned to look and grabbed the plate of food. "Thanks again for the food and the help!" She made a beeline for her friend. "Levy. Can I take up a minute or two of your time please?"

Levy turned from her conversation with Gajeel, conversation in the barest sense of the word more like it, and smiled. "Lu-chan! Oh my, what happened?"

"Did Salamander finally push you in that river?"

She pouted at Gajeel. "No! I accidentally fell in. But that's not what I want to talk to you about." She grabbed Levy's hand. "I have a question for you and I need your help with a book."

Levy's ears perked up and her eyes twinkled. "Sure! I haven't already read it have I?"

"If you did, it would be a huge help to me!" She pulled Levy to a table that wasn't in use and plopped down. "What do you know about dream spells?"

Levy blinked and slowly took the book she produced. "Um...not much yet. Why do you ask?"

She quickly took a bite of the sandwich to give her time to phrase her wording carefully. "I had an idea for a story from a dream that I had when we were at the Grand Magic Games, but I had all but forgotten it by the time we got home. I saw this book and bought it to see if it could help." She paused again, taking another bite as she tried to figure out just what else was safe to allude to. Did she want to say that she had already used it twice?

"I've read a few books on dreams, but nothing yet that included spells about remembering them. Let me read this real quick so I can maybe help you." Levy grabbed her magic reading glasses and flipped open to the first page. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes as Levy breezed through the book. Not even five minutes later, the book closed with a low whomp. "Lu-chan..." Levy slowly took off the glasses. The look on her face was not very upbeat. "I'm not too sure that I like the magic this book describes."

Her head tilted and she leaned in, already wary. She put the sandwich down and shoved it aside. "Why? What's wrong? I already read it myself, but it seemed to be lacking a few explanations."

Levy looked away for a second, teeth nibbling her lip. "This doesn't seem to be any low level magic spell in this book. From the sounds of it, you can relive your dreams with the potion listed here, but it seems to come with a price."

Her brows rose. "A price? I didn't see anything about that."

"I found it with my glasses." Levy flipped to the chapter she had seen about the time limit and pointed to a passage. "It's not really clear at all if you read it without magic, but it seems like the side effects mix up reality and the dream world."

"What does that mean?"

"That's all I could find out..." Levy closed the book again. "I don't have much experience with sleep spells or spells that force you into a dream. I don't know if anyone here does. We only had Mystogan..."

"Who's gone now." She interjected with a sigh. Her head dropped onto the table. "What's the chance that Master knows anything about this?" She queried, not really expecting an answer. "I wonder if the library has any books on it..."

Levy thoughtfully hummed, tapping the book on the table. "You'd have to ask on that one. I've read a bunch of books there already, but I don't remember coming across anything like this in there yet." Levy's lips pursed thoughtfully as she stared at the boring, brown cover. "I really don't know why this isn't in our library already actually. This isn't some basic, beginner spell." Their eyes locked. "Where did you find this?"

"The bookstore. It was in there with all the other books. It was the only one too."

Levy was silent for a bit. "I don't suggest using the potion in the book Lu-chan. Honestly, I'd prefer it if you marched over right now and handed it over to master for safekeeping. Maybe if you tried to think about the dream some more you'd be able to recall something. I know that's not much of a help, but I really understand your trouble. I've been there myself before."

She took the book back and finished off the sandwich. She took the weight of her friend's words to heart. She grimly looked to the small book in her hand, contemplating what she had done so far. She didn't know what mixing up the dream world and reality meant. She had no one to talk to about this, no other mages in any guilds she had met at the tournament used this kind of magic. The only thing she knew was from what she had experienced herself after drinking the potion. Who knew what master knew in his many years of magic practice? Did she really want to check with him? If Levy wanted her to give up the book, master probably would take it from her if it was dangerous...

Even if he took the book and refused to give it back, she had already memorized the potion ingredients from the pages. She had read it enough to have kept the main points in her head. As it was, she could patronize her friend and still go home and make another potion if she so desired.

She finally thanked Levy and put her empty plate back on the bar, mind whirling. What did she do? Did she throw caution to the wind and keep going? It seemed folly to do so. She could just save herself possible headache by confronting Natsu and making him give her information. She sighed and turned from the bar, eyes on the ground. She idly scratched at her chin as her eyes remained on the walkway out. She barely noticed the doorway around her and looked up to the sun when it blinded her.

What were the odds that he'd talk to her? She knew Natsu to be somewhat simple-minded at times, but his bravery and honesty were like none other. If she tried to get him to spill, he might talk about what happened, but if he had left like he had, he may not want to rehash it. He hadn't last night that was for sure! She heaved yet another sigh and slowly headed toward Natsu's house. She had to at least try!


	4. Chapter 4

She headed out with the best of intentions. She managed to get about a third of the way to his house when her steps started slowing down and she eventually stopped. Just what was she going to say when she got there? 'I vaguely recalled that you and I had done something inappropriate when we were at Crocus and I want you to tell me about it in full so I can remember what I did to you that made you run away so I can apologize for it?'

A hand slapped her forehead. That was it in a nutshell, but there was no way she could be that brash! She wouldn't even be able to get out the word 'inappropriate' before going beet red and fumbling on her words! She ambled down the street, now making her way over at a snail's pace, as she thought. From what she could figure out, if she was the one that did this to Natsu, he didn't seem to yell and scream at her for it. Unless she hadn't dreamed about it yet, she didn't remember any part of her potion-induced dreams having a screaming, upset Natsu yelling at her for such behavior. In fact, any words she could recall were hesitant as if he either lost the ability to speak or didn't want to say them in the first place.

Her face blushed at what she was insinuating. Did that mean he didn't mind?! No way! Her head shook rapidly. This was Natsu here! He didn't care about touching her unless it was sparring her or saving her from imminent doom! They had never had any history of romantic intentions and Natsu had never appeared to be interested in her that way at all. Even after all of the times he caught her naked through all their adventures, not one nosebleed.

She looked a little put out. She knew that he wanted to be the strongest one in the whole guild so fighting took up almost his whole brain, with food a close second, but she wasn't just part of the wall here! She was young and attractive with a good figure, she was smart and quite powerful in her own magic class. Granted she would never be as powerful as fire magic, but the spirits she called upon were strong!

She sighed as a hand massaged the bridge of her nose. This was stupid. She was going over to apologize and hopefully get information from him so why was she going down this odd train wreck of a thought pattern? Ever since the day they met, Natsu had no room for her in his brain other than being a team member and a friend. If there had possibly been any times that he may have shown more, she couldn't even count them on one hand. The only reason she knew he was even male was the amount of times he blushed when she accidentally flashed him so many times!

'Oh just stop this! You're not going over to defend your feminine wiles to him idiot!' Both hands promptly slapped her cheeks as she forced herself to stop thinking like this. 'Just go and find out what happened. Try to be honest as possible and understanding. Get whatever you can from him and leave it at that if he doesn't want to talk about it in full.' There wasn't much else she could do really, but she had to keep telling herself to be satisfied with any information he would give her. The dreams she had weren't fully in her head and it was kind of hard to go through them easily. She still needed help here.

Asking for help was easier said and done once she had reached the forest his house was in. She stopped when it came into view a small ways away and leaned against a tree. Her heart was racing at the thought of finally figuring out this mystery and a fist clenched. She tried to gather the courage to walk up to his door, even if her face refused to go back to its normal color.

She managed a few more small steps before her legs lost the will to move. Why was she so scared to know the truth? If it had already happened, logic dictated that she should know what had happened! She stared at the ground and clenched her jaw. What was wrong with her? This was Natsu! She had talked to him before about so many horrible, depressing, and embarrassing subjects that didn't include this! Why was this so different?

She suddenly looked to his house when a thought struck her. If she knew what she had done to him, it may change her behavior toward him. She may look at him in a different light. She may find out that HE had started looking at her in a different light! Yes this was Natsu here, but he was a male and he had to reach mental adulthood sometime... There would have to be room for someone special sometime in his life! What if Natsu had begun that path earlier than she had because of her actions toward him?

The world seemed to twirl and she kneeled, still staring hard at the ground. What did she do if that was the case? She had no time to consider that possibility with as close as she was to his house. This had never occurred to her in the slightest. She was so bent on knowing anything in the first place that she hadn't considered the aftermath of the information and what it would have done to them. Natsu was the greatest friend in the world to her in so many ways and she relied on him so much to get by when times were tough.

What would she do if she had begun to see him romantically while in battle? She was already afraid for him so much whenever he almost died from wounds he received or whenever he would exhaust his magic. It hurt to see him injured as a friend...how much more horrible would it be to witness these things if she had feelings for him? What about her in this situation? She knew Natsu held everyone in the guild dear and he did whatever it took to keep them from harm. Everyone was his family and he wanted to protect them as much as he could, which was why he always got injured. He already stepped in so much for her as it was to take the brunt of attacks she should have received instead...

Her brow furrowed as she slowly stood and took a few more steps. The house didn't come much closer. Maybe he wasn't home...but she wouldn't know that until she actually knocked on the door.

It took forever to actually get within arm's reach of the door to be able to knock. She must have contemplated even getting up there for what seemed an hour! Her fist slowly rose, shaking intensely, and stopped mere inches away from striking the wood.

Could she do this? Everything was quickly running away down a strange path she hadn't ever bothered looking at. After that one instance where she thought Natsu may have liked her and asked her on what she had thought was a date, she realized he may never feel the same way and put it out of her mind. She all but resolved herself to never go that route ever again.

 _His_ _hair_ _was_ _really_ _soft,_ _though_ _his_ _skin_ _was_ _tough_ _from_ _so_ _much_ _rough_ _treatment_ _and_ _injuries_ _and_ _being_ _outside._ _His_ _eyes_ _were_ _infectious_ _and_ _she_ _couldn't_ _stop_ _looking_ _at_ _him._ _He_ _really_ _was_ _easy_ _on_ _the_ _eyes_ _all_ _over..._

She gasped and her hand accidentally smacked the door to try and steady her. Not at a time like this! She didn't need visions right now! She tried to get the surge of emotion caused by the dream to go away so she could bother looking into his eyes. She irately admitted he was handsome. Natsu was built like a god, which was why she was so flustered when she thought he had asked her out. Why was that such a crime to have a thought like that?

She jolted to her surroundings when she realized that the door was still closed. Hadn't she hit it a few seconds ago? No way Natsu would be unable to hear it even as weak as it was. Maybe this meant he wasn't home then? 'Great...now what?' She wasn't prepared to NOT face him... Had they passed each other on the way? With as much time as she wasted in getting here, that wouldn't shock her.

She stared at the door, now faced with a different problem. She was really hoping for answers, even if it was really uncomfortable to get them. Now she was stuck back with the prospect of having to use the potion for answers. She didn't want to go against her friend's advice though. Her hand reached down and grabbed the knob. She lightly grasped it, wondering if she should just barge in and check. 'Why not?! Like he hadn't done so a bunch of times before!'

There had only been one time that she snuck in uninvited and that was when she had found a tornado had visited his house before her. She seriously hoped it wasn't as bad as she had seen it that first time because she spent a lot of time and effort on cleaning up that horrible pigsty! Her gaze hardened on her hand and she took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..." She mumbled. She grasped the lock and turned the door, ready to fling it open.

Just as she had turned the knob the door flung open on her before she could do so. She wasn't prepared for it and started falling forward with her hand still attached to the metal. She gave a surprised cry and started tilting forward when a pair of hands suddenly clutched her arms before her face hit the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief.

 _He reached out and grabbed her upper arms as they got close enough for him to do so. He easily kept her arms from going around his neck again and whipped around to keep his back from going against the wall._

Her eyes squeezed shut as the grip was in the exact same spot as her vision. The same heat was there too. 'You can't deal with these visions right now! Focus!' She hurried to stand and shook off his hands, trying to regain composure. The question was, where had she left it? In the guild? On the way here? All the way back at her apartment?

"Are you okay?"

His cool words made her pause. She grit her teeth and looked at his face. She couldn't answer his question and thus bypassed it to look at his house. "I almost thought you weren't home... What are you doing?" She dared. Her eyes darted from him to the house and back to him. She tried not to look at him too much since it was already not helping her situation.

"I was working out. What are you doing here for? You rarely come over." He took a step back and let her into his house. He closed the door and watched her slowly walk in, mind racing as to why she was here. He knew she was at his front door long before she knocked. He felt her magic and heard her words, which only confused him. He could tell how close she was to his house, but why had it taken so long for her to knock? She was out there a long time, but he didn't go to her because he didn't know what was going on.

She had to do this! She had to force out the words and the questions or she was never going to get to the bottom of this! She left her back to him, unable to face him though. "Natsu...I'm sorry if I was acting...strange last night... I'm sorry...that you had to leave like that. I..." She paused, scanning the room as if it would give her answers and courage. "I -" A hand tapped her shoulder and she jumped in her nervousness.

"Don't worry about it. Not a big deal." He breezed. Truth be told, he didn't know what was going on with her, but if he could make her feel better by not making a big deal out of it, he would. She was so flustered and not acting like herself. He preferred hanging around Lucy that was smiling and ready to go on an adventure with him. He wanted to try and help her get back to her smiling self as soon as possible.

She had been so insistent that she have time off to do her writing thing and he had tried to respect that, even if he stopped over and found the paper covering her windows when they were dark. He thought maybe she just wanted a good night's rest for once and had left. Then he heard about the shooting stars and thought she would like it so he stopped back to check with her. When he barged in though, he was only met with something he didn't know how to handle. It would actually have been kind of nice to get some solutions to her behavior, but he really didn't know if that was a good idea to do.

Not a big deal? But he had rushed out of her room so fast! Of course it was a big deal; Natsu didn't run from anything! She took a step toward him in her confusion and irritation. "Yes it's a big deal! You ran away! You never run away Natsu! I don't understand what's happening here! I came because I need your help to figure something out. Something that -" Her face flushed, heart picking up. "Something...something I...might have...done...t – to -"

He stared at her. She was beet red, her eyes were wide, and she was shaking. He suddenly recalled a different time of her form trembling against him. A time when she was just as red in the face, staring at him with hooded eyes full of an emotion he couldn't name. This Lucy was different from that Lucy, but she was referring to that Lucy from that time. A time he had tried over and over to forget.

He held up a hand and cut her off. "It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it." He didn't think he could describe that scene even if he tried. He was already starting to get red in the face and chastised himself for it.

Then his brain registered something. Needed help to figure something out? What did that mean? Was she saying that she didn't even remember what she did to him that night?! Sure she was drunk and she didn't recall that other time where she had tried to feed him, but this was way worse than that. She had openly seduced him! He was irritated at the fact that he had these memories that wouldn't go away and she had no recollection that they ever existed. She was the one that started everything and now he was the only one here feeling uncomfortable while they were together!

He looked away, wanting to snap back at her in the heat of his emotions. He didn't want to yell at her for a drunken circumstance that she honestly didn't remember and looked like she wanted to. What was the point in knowing this late after it happened? If she didn't know anything about it, perhaps there was no point in figuring it out and telling her just what she had done simply because she was asking. She didn't have any idea what the weight his words would be and she may never want to be near him again if she knew. She was uncomfortable right now as it was and she wouldn't be able to turn back. He knew because he had tried and failed many times.

He was shutting down on her. She could just see it in his face and his stance. He was tense and definitely not looking happy, but more upset than anything. She took a step toward him. She knew this was going to happen and she had to remind herself that she should be understanding and accept whatever he would tell her, but he hadn't even said a word about it yet. She had made him feel this way, was still making him feel like this, and she wanted to take responsibility for it. She didn't want him to burden everything by himself.

"It IS a big deal Natsu! Look at you! You're mad at me and I don't even know what I did! That's why I'm here...to find out. I don't even know what I did to make you hate me and turn away from me like this! Please tell me! I want to take responsibility for it so I can at least apologize!"

His head shook and stopped her tirade. "I don't hate you." He quietly denied. "I could never hate you." His eyes softened a little as they stared into hers. "Don't cry. I don't like seeing you cry." He finally sighed and closed his eyes, weighing everything. She was like this with no recollection of that night so what would she be like with full knowledge of having laid on him and been so perverted? He seriously considered the fact that she may never be able to look him in the eye ever again and he didn't want that. He wanted them to be able to hang out together without this weighing them down forever. He finally looked at her in all seriousness. "You're better off not knowing. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to tell you anything."

She felt like she had been struck. The rejecting look in his eyes, the sound of his voice, the way his fists were clenched...she took a step back. Her shoulders slumped as she looked to the floor while those words sunk in. They repeated over and over in her head. His apology did nothing to damper the door he had just slammed in her face.

He felt bad, but there was no other way to say this. His brow furrowed, wanting to comfort her as he always had, but that would be totally opposite of the message he was trying to drive home. What was the point in comforting her when he had told her he wasn't going to help her? He took a slow step toward her. His hand pushed her shoulder, getting her to turn around. "I think you should go." He mumbled. He slowly moved her to the door and opened it. "Trust me when I say you're better off not knowing. Don't try to remember this. Please."

She stood looking out at the trees surrounding his house. She felt lost. It barely registered when the door slowly clicked behind her. He had thrown her out of his house over this. She finally lost the will to stand and fell to the ground, idly staring at her hands as tears blocked her vision.

 _You're better off not knowing...not knowing...don't remember this...don't..._

Her eyes hardened and narrowed. She let anger and determination take over. At last, she forced herself to stand. She stared off at the sky, feeling resolve come over her. It felt good actually. Her shoulders squared and she took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.

His words had the opposite effect. If he wasn't going to tell her just what she had lost, then she would figure it out for herself. She had the means to do so! 'I'm sorry Levy-chan, but I'm going to go against your advice. Forgive me for making a possibly stupid mistake for my own selfish benefit...'

It felt like she had a mission of more importance than any amount of jewels that she could ever earn. She harshly dried her tears and took off in a dead run for her apartment. She would figure this out! She would have Crux research the book for anything he could find and she would use that extra information for her benefit to keep herself safe. She would find a way to use that spell and get what she needed without crossing the line that the book warned about. She had to!


	5. Chapter 5

She hurried straight back to her apartment. She summoned Crux the second she got back, as she knew it would take him some time to get answers. She handed him the book and while he got started checking on things, she made a batch of potions as opposed to just one. So something like last night didn't happen again. If they were supposed to sit for at least an hour or more, she would take them as needed instead of waiting this whole time. She made as many as she could until some of her ingredients ran out. She kept the bottles around for when she needed to make a trip to the magic shop.

It was still daytime when she considered taking the potion. She knew it said right before bedtime, but she wanted to do this quickly. She was tired of waiting and trying to figure things out. She would take these potions as many times as it took to get to the bottom of this and unfragment all of these dreams she was having and could just somewhat recall. She wanted to know exactly what happened that caused Natsu to kick her out of his house (which he had NEVER done) and tell her to leave it alone. She wouldn't! She had to know now! She wasn't going to be kept in the dark on this when he was so worked up over it. She wanted to understand why and this was now her only resort.

She barred all windows and doors to keep everyone out. She didn't want any interruptions or to be woke up in the slightest. She didn't know if Natsu would come into her room any time soon and was somewhat grateful at having created so much tension. It may work into her advantage if he stayed away while she did this. She never said anything about the spell to him and she still didn't know if he had smelled the ingredients or not when he was here last night. If he did and if the book was as shifty as Levy-chan thought it was, he would keep her from doing this with every ounce of strength he possessed.

She laid down on the bed after chugging one container. This was the third time she had taken one in the last day alone. She seriously hoped that it would go okay and things would work out. She tried to recant a few of Natsu's inspiring words to help drive her on. She also tried to tell herself to remember everything; every last detail...no matter how embarrassing it may be. She kept paper and pen on her bed this time so she could write things down without having to waste time getting up if incapacitated.

She hoped this dream would give her much more information than the other two. Even when she was asleep, she always felt like it was just random pieces that didn't connect. She had to know. She needed to see it all!

She forcefully closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths to calm herself. Getting worked up over this wasn't going to help and she didn't want her agitation to damper the potion's effects. She focused on slowing her heart rate and loosening her muscles. She tried to picture herself in a relaxed state of meditation. She tried to relax her mind and think of nothing and just listen to her breathing. She mentally chanted to herself over and over the same thing: 'remember everything that you dream' and 'it's only a dream'.

 _She_ _was_ _back_ _in_ _Crocus,_ _in the group's room._ _She_ _stared_ _around_ _at_ _the_ _made_ _beds_ _and_ _the_ _emptiness_ _in_ _confusion._ _No_ _one_ _was_ _there._ _All_ _was_ _silent._ _Nighttime_ _was_ _coming_ _in_ _through_ _the_ _windows,_ _though_ _the_ _room_ _itself_ _was_ _oddly_ _lit. She walked_ _to_ _them_ _and_ _stared_ _out._ _The_ _evening_ _was_ _quiet_ _below._ _'Why_ _am_ _I_ _here?'_ _Why_ _this_ _room?_

 _The_ _door_ _suddenly_ _opened_ _and_ _Natsu_ _entered...with_ _her_ _attached_ _to_ _his_ _waist. Her eyes_ _bugged_ _out_ _as_ _she_ _watched_ _this_ _strange_ _omnipresence_ _situation_ _unfold._ _Her_ _face_ _flamed._ _She_ _couldn't_ _hear_ _anything;_ _it_ _was_ _as_ _if_ _their_ _words_ _were_ _trying_ _to go through_ _walls_ _to_ _reach_ _her_ _ears._ _All_ _she_ _could_ _hear_ _were_ _muffles_ _with_ _a_ _trace_ _of_ _emotion_ _on_ _them._

 _She_ _watched_ _in_ _silent_ _shock_ _and_ _horror_ _at_ _her_ _shameless_ _attempts_ _to_ _hug_ _Natsu_ _and_ _his_ _facial_ _expressions._ _She_ _cringed_ _at_ _how_ _he_ _understandably_ _kept_ _trying_ _to_ _keep_ _her_ _away._ _She_ _took_ _note_ _of_ _her_ _dream_ _self's_ _flushed_ _face_ _and_ _wondered_ _if_ _this_ _Lucy_ _was_ _sick_ _or_ _if_ _this_ _had_ _to_ _deal_ _with_ _those_ _words_ _she_ _heard_ _from_ _other_ _dreams._

 _There was no way she would ever have clutched onto him like this if she were within her right mind. She tried to keep that thought in mind as to what brought on this behavior and stored it away for later, knowing that there was more to this than just what she was seeing._

 _She was unable to move closer, but as she watched them fall and her land on top of him, she didn't feel like getting any nearer. It was like watching a carriage crash into a tree; she just couldn't look away from the horror of it all despite wanting to stop herself. She held her breath as she waited for either of them to move. She noted that Natsu looked hurt and she flinched at having caused the bump on his head._

 _Her head nearly exploded as she watched her dream self sidle up his chest. WHAT?! She wanted to cover her eyes, but for some reason, she couldn't. Was this because she actually wanted to see this? Yes...she had...but that was before she was watching such wanton actions on her behalf! Oh god! How could she have done these things and not remembered them?!_

 _She wanted to fall to the floor as she watched her dream self nuzzle her friend. Her legs didn't seem to be able to support her and yet she was unable to twitch a muscle. She had become a mere spectator to this the second they had come into the room. There was no way she was going to get out of this._

 _She had told herself she wanted to know. She had gone to Natsu and braced for anything he threw her way, but had she expected THIS she may not have! This was what he had been hiding from her? No wonder he didn't want to say anything!_

 _Her ears heard muffled words from her, full of emotion even if they couldn't be made out. She assumed that was the confession she had said and dreamed about prior. Some of the words from her other dreams started to make sense. She WAS this dream person in those other instances. Instead of being outside to see everything from a third person's point of view like she was now, she had become that point of view. The only thing she could think of as to why it had so drastically changed was she had been expecting this and had prepared. Her mind had changed and she was waiting for it to happen. She had changed how she was experiencing this._

 _Lucid dreams...a dream you knew you were having...except this wasn't a dream. This was real! She had probably just dreamed it for some reason or another that she still didn't know about and yet kind of wanted to know why it was in her subconscious._

 _She watched herself sit up on Natsu and her eyes bugged out. Oh god! What in the world was she doing?! Why was this happening...correction...why had this happened to her? If that wasn't bad enough, the emotions she saw in her eyes made her nervous and fearful at the same time. She was staring at Natsu so intensely and the scarier thing was, he was returning her stare! They looked at each other like lovers!_

 _She felt like she was shaking, even if she still wasn't able to move. This was too much...too much! The words she wrote down from her other dreams came back to her. Shaking...Natsu was shaking...she was sitting ON Natsu...they were both really red...this was intense and she could remember how hot he was._

 _She couldn't tear her eyes away from them. Her past self was nothing to look at so much as Natsu had captivated her attention. There was so much written on his face. He looked so uncomfortable, but there was so much lust in his eyes that she had never ever seen from him and it was directed toward her past self. Natsu was looking at her like that...with those eyes! She wouldn't have ever believed it if she wasn't witnessing it right now._

 _Her heartbeat picked up and she startled to see her past self scooch up Natsu's chest. She couldn't believe this was happening to her! How many times she had said that and then something else even more unexpected occurred that made the previous thought seem like that was normal. She couldn't breathe normally or stop the feeling that she was violently shaking. Her legs were weak and her blood pumped like Happy going max speed._

 _The emotion she felt the first night she took the potion engulfed her as she watched her past self throw the shirt over Natsu's eyes and touch his lower lip. She suddenly understood all too well what it was that shew as feeling. She couldn't be more turned on in her life than she was right now and it was because of what she was doing to his mouth._

 _She watched Natsu's hand weakly attempt to touch her. She almost burned at his touch, even if she couldn't feel anything this pair was experiencing. She was like a peeping tom looking through the window at something she shouldn't be looking at that was extremely private. She intently took in his actions, his breathing, and his red face. She marveled that he just laid there like that and had to accept that her past self was doing things to him that he had probably never felt before, let alone done. No way had Natsu ever been sat on by a girl (a girl with her waist nearly in his lap!) and had her play with his lips like she was doing._

 _She was transfixed at watching her past self play with his lower lip. She could almost feel it on that finger on her own hand. She remembered now how soft his lips were and her curious nature turned into boldness as she went to find out. But Natsu was making things uncomfortable by his eyes so she had to cover them. She wouldn't be deterred...and she hadn't cared at the time about what she was doing nor the consequences after she was done._

 _She jolted to attention when Natsu finally shoved her off his chest. She felt like the spell was over, even though she was still burning with lust at the scene. It was almost anti-climactic that he gave her past self her pack and quietly left the room. She watched her past self get dressed, turn out the light, and simply lay down to sleep. Like such a momentous thing had never happened._

 _When the lights went out, she stood there at a loss. She stood there with all this knowledge, listening to her past self breathe slowly. She was floored. No wonder Natsu had behaved as he had and had shut her out! He had said that she was better off not knowing...that she didn't want to remember this. Now she finally knew why! She had done things that she had never done to another man and she had done them to her teammate; her friend! His running away and his making her leave made sense. They were friends and she had done something unspeakable to him; he was probably really confused at how to look at her now!_

 _She stared at her hands. They were twitching. She blinked, realizing she was able to move. She finally stumbled back and leaned against the wall. What a mess she had made! NOW what did she do? She had totally forgotten this for some reason or another and she didn't know what caused all of this. She would never have done such a thing if she was in possession of her wits, so what could have changed her so drastically?_

 _She gave a sudden cry when the wall gave way and she fell through it. Her hands flailed as she was almost pulled through the air. She twisted to the ground, bracing herself for a harsh fall, when her feet stopped inches away from stone pavement. Her eyes peeked open as she took in this new scene...then they widened. The fountain! She had visions of a stone fountain when she visited the guild. This was it?_

 _She took note of her past self and what she did. She could see the emotions pass by her face and saw herself cry and was confused. What did she have to cry about? She was suddenly aware that she could hear all too well her sobbing. That's right...she was so tired from so many things that had cropped up since Tenroujima... No wonder she was crying._

 _She noted movement in the shadows and her head whipped to it. She found she could do nothing else. So she was unable to move again? But she still hadn't landed on the ground. She was floating barely off it for some reason._

 _She remembered that Natsu had found her, which didn't surprise her. She had been abused by Raven Tail during her match and was subjected to humiliation; he was probably checking up on her. Her eyes closed fondly as she heard her past self breathe his name and hug him. She had needed help and strength and then he had shown up. He was like a knight in shining armor when it came to comforting her._

" _W – what are you doing?"_

 _Her eyes popped open as she watched her past self wiggle around on him. Her face flamed. What?_

" _You're nice and warm Natsu... It's cold out here."_

 _Oh yea...she had chilled herself with the water to hide her tears from him, as if there was a point to that, and then she got cold. He was always so warm and it seemed logical to cuddle up with him and warm up. Her face flamed further at that thought._

" _Are_ _you_ _drunk?"_

 _Her head tilted. Drunk? But she didn't drink! She didn't really like drinking._

" _It's_ _not_ _my_ _fault!_ _I_ _ordered_ _just_ _one_ _to_ _get_ _Bacchus_ _away_ _from_ _me_ _and_ _then_ _that_ _stupid_ _bartender_ _kept_ _serving_ _me_ _more_ _of_ _them_ _after_ _he_ _left!"_

" _Huh? Why did you drink them if you knew what they were?"_

 _She echoed Natsu's sentiments. If she was able to creep closer to the scene she would have, but all she could do was lean her head in a few inches._

" _I didn't know they were alcoholic! I thought it was juice! I was watching the drinking match between Kana and Bacchus! It's not my fault!"_

 _She wanted to slap her forehead. Oh god...she DID drink those three drinks! No wonder she had such a change in character!_

" _Okay, okay, it's not your fault. I believe you. You're all wet still. Let's get you back to the room and get you changed okay? That will warm you up."_

" _My shoulders are still cold. How far is the inn again?"_

" _It's just around the corner. Keep walking. We're almost there. Hey! If you can't walk like this then let go of me!"_

 _She groaned at how cheesy and horrible this whole thing was becoming. She was acting like a total clingy twit! She wanted to cover her hands over her eyes, but they wouldn't move. The pair started in her direction._

" _Nooo! I'm fine. I can walk like this."_

 _No more...please...wake up! Don't make her suffer any more embarrassment than she was going to feel after she woke up! The pair walked through her on their way to the inn, though she couldn't turn to watch them. The sound of the fountain took over their footsteps after the scene was over._

 _She had no words. There was nothing she could do to justify her actions or having pretty much groped Natsu. Everything he did and said made sense. Rightly so! She had just done a serious breach of friendship and threw a cog out of balance. Hell, she took that cog out of its place and tossed it away! Natsu had tried to pick it up and put it back where it had been before all this occurred and here she was trying to pull it off again!_

" _He was right...I was better off not knowing what happened. He handled me as best he could and he didn't hate me for what I did... He tried to accept this and move past it. He tried to remain as friends; as we had been. I only made things worse by wanting to know..."_

 _The world suddenly went black. She couldn't and didn't want to see anything. No more...this was more than enough... She was bound to remember this because of how the dream scenario had changed. She had taken these potions for this purpose and they had served their role._

 _She had no idea what she was getting into here and now that she was made aware, she didn't know how to continue. What did she do? How did she stand being near him when she would only remember what happened? She wouldn't be able to go into battle like this with him!_

 _Her fists clenched and shook. She was ashamed of her behavior. Drunk or not; she had done something she shouldn't have. Natsu didn't ask for any of that and she had pretty much forced herself on him for some unconscious, unknown female longing that was only magnified because of alcohol. She had totally disrespected him in every way and he had tried his hardest at that time to manage her in the most delicate manner. He didn't hold anything against her and he even told her himself that he didn't hate her._

 _She would hate herself for him then! She would hold this over her own head and berate herself until she felt everything was paid back in full. She wanted to punish herself for being so stupid. How could she do this?! She had just ruined everything! He would never hate her he said, but she knew that he would not be able to look at her the same way ever again. His exit from her apartment that night had proved that she had changed things. She had wrecked their friendship!_

 _She threw back her head and screamed her frustration and anger. She wanted to hurt herself in this second. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Lucy! You're so dumb! How could you do that to him?! He was your friend! You're the worst person in the world! He trusted you and he may never trust you again!" Hands gripped her hair. "Enough...make it end...let me wake up...please! Please! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"_

Her eyes popped open. She was panting and her heart was beating wildly. She was trembling and that feeling of lust was roaming through her body. She weakly glared at the ceiling momentarily before sitting up. She stared at the low light coming in through her apartment and the shadows it cast on her furniture. The final words she said in her dream rang through her head.

She remembered everything. Every last instance, every last feeling, every last touch. All the wide eyes, the heat, the intensity, the lust...the lust... She scrunched into a ball and pressed fists against her head. Her anger flared at the feeling of how turned on she was from finally seeing everything in its clarity. She was disgusted with herself. She was a horrible, perverted woman to have such thoughts toward a person who was so dear to her and had always treated her as best he could. This wasn't how she should repay him!

She didn't know how many minutes she had remained huddled up. She steeped in doubt and anger and self-depreciation for what seemed forever. Finally, she got off the bed and her eyes landed on the open spell book. She suddenly jumped from the bed and grabbed it. Her fingers went to tear it page from page from its binding when she paused. This spell wasn't at fault; she was. It had done exactly as she had initially asked. She was the one to blame. With a cry, she closed the book and hurled it across the room with a loud clunk.


	6. Chapter 6

She refused to leave her room for rest of that day. In her hurry to know the truth, she had slept through the previous evening, all through the night, and the entire next day. She knew people in the guild may be wondering where she was, but she just couldn't face anyone. When she thought of the fact that she may bump into Natsu she was nearly paralyzed. She couldn't see him now! She was still too entrenched in all these feelings and she needed time to sort them all out! He was way ahead of her and she needed to catch up!

She spent a lot of quiet hours listening to the world pass her by below as she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and remembering that night in Crocus. It had before been always so out of her reach and now that she had pulled it from her subconscious it refused to go away. It mocked her by replaying everything from start to finish and once it finished, it would rewind and go again. She couldn't get it to stop.

To make matters worse, she couldn't stop getting turned on whenever she watched herself on top of Natsu and her actions. She almost became that person that night with all those heavy emotions. She was disgusted with herself for feeling these things every time and after a while she actually liked feeling them! They were starting to take over her sense of reason and she was beginning to crave this heat!

When that thought hit her, she jumped from the bed, tore her clothes from her body, and took the coldest shower she could muster. She stayed under the spray of water until she almost fell onto the ground from shivering so much. She almost wondered if her lips had turned blue from such temperature and duration of contact.

She stood in her bathroom, dripping water in the silence. She felt so lost and ragged and unsure. She had wanted Natsu in that night, even if it was alcohol-induced. She was so confused whenever she thought about that. Why would a few measly drinks bring on such a strong reaction? She knew of that time in the inn before, mainly because Natsu complained to her about it and held it over her head for a while. As drunk as she was then had never produced such perverted intentions as she had brazenly carried out!

She was afraid to admit that she may actually like Natsu enough to have done those things with the courage of alcohol. He was the person who had brought her to Fairy Tail and helped get her into his guild. She was grateful to him for helping her join the one place she had run away to belong to. The time he asked her to team up with him for missions had made her so happy. He was the first friend that she made after getting there and through him she had come to befriend everyone in the guild when she was so awestruck and shy to talk to everyone like she did now. Things that she never thought she would do were made possible by simply being around him.

Natsu was a person like none other. She relied on him every day it seemed for something or another. She admitted in that second that he was on a pedestal of a different caliber that no other guy would ever go on. His honesty, bravery, strength, friendliness, his good looks, gorgeous muscles...intense eyes...his charming smile...

She slapped her cheeks, feeling more pain than normal with them still being wet. Her fists clenched tightly and nails cut into her palms. Her jaw clenched, bangs covering her sight. She took in the blissful darkness, though another thought reared its ugly head.

When she had thought Natsu was going to ask her on a date, she was all flustered and believed it! She didn't doubt him for one second. She had merely accepted it and got all dressed up to go see him! She had pictured them walking down the street with her arms wrapped around his like a couple. If she felt nothing for him, that situation would have never registered in her brain...just as it never registered in his...

She plopped down on the cold, wet floor, not caring if it was uncomfortable and the heavy landing bit into her knees a bit. She barely flinched over the pain. She was really pathetic. She was like a desperate woman! Why had she been so easily deceived and read too much into it from the start? Did she really want love so bad that she would look for it from anyone? Even Natsu? Honestly, Natsu had a lot going for him when one took a step back and just looked at all his qualities, but she was his friend! Friends didn't mean romance!

Frustrated tears poured from her eyes onto her arms. She was such a mess and she didn't know how to get back to before she messed things up! She wanted to bury this so she could forget it had ever happened! Any possible feelings for Natsu should remain in the darkness where they had been twisted and nurtured.

She cried until there seemed no more tears left in her system. She remained on the cold floor for what seemed forever, wishing she had the gateway to go back through and change time. If only she could keep herself away from Bacchus or those other drinks. If she had never gotten drunk, she would never have done what she had done! This would never have come to pass!

She was exhausted emotionally and mentally. She hadn't eaten much all that day and it was taking its toll on her. She didn't even know what day it was or the hour. She had left the lights off in the bathroom and it was all dark. There wasn't much light coming in through the window, which at least told her that night had come. But how late was it?

She slumped onto the tile, still chilled from her shower and the air that was drying her off. Her hair was still wet and clung to her back. She felt like a baby, unable to move or speak. She felt so weak all of a sudden and rested her head against the floor.

'Someone...please...how can I go back in time like my future self that had died? How can I prevent this from ever happening? How can I bury this?' She stared at the towels across the way and realized how cold she was. She was shivering, but her mind was fuzzy. A hand dragged its way across the floor toward the fluffy fabric as if she would reach it from the distance and pull it across the room to cover her up. It never made the full distance as she lost consciousness, slumping onto the floor.

 _She was in the palace in her clothes from during the battle at Crocus. She was standing next to a person with blond hair, the same height as herself. Her future self?! Another memory... Why was she seeing this now? What was the importance of it? What had triggered it?_

 _She watched Rogue, already knowing what he was going to do, but she couldn't move. She was as frozen as the first time when the arrow flew at her. She was going to die... The thought entered her head again as it had the first time. She watched her future self take the hit and moved mechanically like the original time she held herself and watched herself die._

 _Why was she seeing this now? She didn't want to be reminded of it! She cried just as hard as the first time. Why had she requested to see this death? She didn't want to know this again! This she had hoped to forget and here she was being tortured by her own memories! Was it that potion's fault? She suddenly remembered her friend's warning about using it too much. But these were memories, not a dream; they had actually happened!_

 _But she was in the dream world because she knew she was. She was seeing this in first person, but it felt like she was outside of herself. She had full knowledge of what was going to happen next, even if she couldn't change it. She couldn't do anything because it was a memory of the past that she was merely experiencing in the dream world._

 _Was that what it meant to mix up the dream world and reality? She had never figured that out from Crux and she hadn't bothered to research the warning before taking that latest potion. She realized that the others were still there in her apartment, waiting to be used. She had left them sit there on her table alone with the book._

 _The world went black and she was relieved. The tears were still on her face though and it felt like a blow to her chest had been dealt. It wasn't everyone day one got to see their time on earth end. No more of this...please...she didn't want to see the other battles of despair. She knew that they had already won!_

 _Suddenly she was running through the broken streets of Crocus with the journal she had found. She was assaulted with the sense of urgency from the information she had about destroying the portal. She had wanted to get there in time to warn everyone and she had. So why was she watching herself run into a pack of dragon hatchlings?_

 _Her eyes widened. This wasn't how things happened...she never ran into them! Right? She recalled that if she turned the corner she just did that she would be met with a dozen of them and no way to win. But how did she even know that? It was like she received a glimpse of the future in that minute and knew what was going to happen and thus took a different path. That difference helped her to get to everyone and give them the vital information._

 _She stopped as the dragons encircled her. Why was she here surrounded? This wasn't right! This wasn't one of her actual memories that she knew of at least! This had to be a dream! She clutched the journal to her, preparing to fight anyway. She wasn't going to go down easily!_

 _They were closing in on all sides of her. Her adrenaline was running on high and told her to run, but there was no hole in the advancing line to sneak through. She was trapped. Her hand went to the keyring, not knowing which spirit to summon first. She wanted to summon them all again like when she closed the door, but didn't have that kind of power by herself. She needed Yukino, who wouldn't appear._

 _One of the dragons got close enough to touch her. It grabbed her arms and gripped her tightly. She struggled, but it wouldn't let her go. It was much stronger than her she sadly realized. She refused to stop, trying to hit it with all her might to injure it. She suddenly paused when its mouth opened. She remembered that they could shoot lasers out of their mouths and knew that's what it intended to do. She was going to be shot through the head at point blank range!_

 _This was it; she was going to die here, like this! She wasn't going to be able to help anyone and dragons would end up ruling the world! She pulled back in vain, watching with fearful eyes as its mouth lit up. Her eyes clenched shut as she screamed for all she was worth._

"Wake up already!" He shook her again when her scream pierced his ears and bounced off the bathroom walls. "Lucy! Come on! Wake up!" He wasn't getting anywhere here. She was unconscious and fighting him or fighting something in her mind. He was so scared at what was happening to her that he was shaking from it. "Please Lucy...listen to me! Hear me!" His worried eyes looked to her closed ones, praying they would move.

Her eyes suddenly shot open, not really seeing. She gasped for air and looked around wildly, trying to find where the rest of the dragons were. She was shaking so much and she couldn't breathe properly. She noted the figure so close to her face and the grasp of her arms. She snapped and screamed again. "No! NOOO! Don't kill me! Let me go! Someone! Natsu!"

"Lucy, it's me, it's Natsu! Listen to me! Snap out of it already!"

She was shaken again as the words entered her ears. She couldn't see anything in the darkness aside from the outline of something. It smelled familiar and felt warm. She finally registered his touch and his familiar fire magic and moved on reflex. Her arms latched around his neck through her adrenaline as she clutched him to her. "Natsu! Oh Natsu! I'm alive! Oh god...it was horrible!"

He fell onto the floor with a thud, arms going around her. He shook almost as violently as she was through the depth of his fear and his worry. She had never acted like this and it scared him! He sat there in silence at a total loss on what to do or say in this second. She apparently was having a nightmare from the sounds of things...but why here in the bathroom? What had happened to her?

No one had seen her at the guild all day and as disconcerting as it was to see her after telling her to leave his house and the reason why, Natsu had sucked it up and ventured over. He didn't want anyone else to see her if she was still acting weird. This issue was between them and no one else needed to butt in.

His attempt to enter her room found the window locked and also barred from easy entry. Not that breaking a window was the end of the world, but he didn't want glass all over her bed, not to mention her having to have a new pane installed because of him. He eventually got the landlady to unlock her door and let him in, but when he entered, it was quiet in the room. It was dark, but she wasn't in bed asleep. He could still smell her scent and knew that she had either just left or was still here somewhere. He was immediately confused because if she had locked herself in so tightly so why would she leave?

His quick hunt ended in the bathroom. He had been hesitant to check there in case she was soaking in the tub, but the lights were off. Her smell was coming from there and thus he steeled himself for the punishment which ended up not happening. What he found was her passed out on the floor of the shower, looking as though she was trying to crawl and had become unconscious. He had called her name, but she didn't move. In fact, she looked quite distressed and he grabbed her arms and shook her to try and wake her. That's when she started fighting him.

He couldn't figure out what was going on here. Why was she like this? Was she attacked in the day he hadn't seen her? What did she dream about? He had no answers to the sleuth of questions roaming through his brain demanding facts to put him at ease. He forced himself to calm down and attend to the person shivering and crying in his arms. He squeezed her, feeling her skin to be like ice and tried to turn up his body temperature to warm her. How long had she been like this? She was freezing everywhere!

"Lucy." He murmured, trying to keep the insistence out of his voice. "Lucy, listen to me. It's okay. There are no dragons. We got rid of them all remember? You're okay; you're safe. I'm here and I'll protect you okay?" His hand stroked her hair, finding it damp and tangled. His brow furrowed. "Lucy, we need to get you off this floor and get some clothes on. You...you're...um...naked..." His face flamed as he took in their position once she calmed down a degree from his words. Lucy was again naked and her entire front was touching him...her chest was pressed up against his...

He mentally berated himself for his heartbeat speeding up and not focusing on her. Lucy was in bad shape right now and he didn't need to be thinking those things! She needed his help! He coaxed her to stand and quickly grabbed a towel. He made her put it on to relieve him of some tension and got her out of the room. He found her dresser and grabbed some pajamas, handing them over. He dared not look in the dark room where he would still be able to see her curves quite clearly with the help of his acute sight.

When fabric stopped rustling, he finally turned around and looked to her. He searched her face for signs that she was okay and his brow furrowed. She looked even worse! He took a step forward before he could catch himself. Her eyes looked so sad and guilty. She appeared so small and fragile before him and a hand instinctively raised. "Lucy..."

She flinched at his voice and clutched her arms to herself, looking away. Her teeth grit and hurt her jaw as she squeezed her eyes shut. This had to be another dream! Natsu couldn't be here! She had locked everything so he couldn't get in! When would she wake up? Tears poured from her eyes. The damn potion! Her hands pulled at the towel in her state, wanting to rip it up.

He felt guilty; attributing her reaction to him from their last conversation. His brows furrowed, but he didn't want to stop until he apologized. He knew how it must have looked to push her away, but he had been thinking of her welfare. "Lucy... Listen...I'm sorry -"

"Don't come near me Natsu!" She butt in when he advanced again. She took another step back. "I'm a horrible person! I'm the one who should be sorry! I did such horrible things to you!"

His arm flopped to his sides and his eyes widened. Oh shit! She knew? How did she figure it out?! His face heated up again as he became uncomfortable all over again. He forced himself from turning away or looking away from her although she wasn't even looking at him anyway. She looked like a scared child and he couldn't help but want to make her feel better. But what did he say to correct this? He still hadn't found answers for himself, let alone helping her out. "Lu...cy...I -"

Her head shook. "I'm nothing but a pervert! I deserve your scorn! You should hate me after what I did! I don't know why you don't!" Her eyes tears as she looked his way, shaking in shame. "I took advantage of you! I took advantage of our friendship! I can't even believe it myself had I not seen it! How do you still want to be near me after what happened?"

'See it?' See what? How did she see that time which had long passed? She said before that she didn't remember anything. His eyes squinted as he took in her form again. She was acting erratically and this was the same behavior he had found when he so innocently visited her that night. This was not like her; it was like something had altered her behavior much like the alcohol had that night.

There was more to this than what he knew. She wasn't telling him everything. He took a few steps forward, intent on getting answers. "Lucy. What did you do?"

She took another step back, feeling scared like her father had found her doing something she shouldn't be doing and was going to punish her for it. "I -" Lips gnashed her teeth. "I had an idea for a story...it came from a dream...I didn't know that it had actually happened! I thought it was merely a dream. I had forgotten it and I tried to figure out what it was." She rambled. She looked to the table for the book, but realized that she had thrown it somewhere in the room and couldn't seen it in the darkness. "There was a potion that was supposed to help..."

His eyes slowly closed. At least it explained some of her difference in behavior. She was under the influence of magic! What was she thinking? She had hurt herself somehow just to remember some stupid night that he didn't hold over her head!

He jolted to attention when her shoulders and head suddenly slumped. He rushed toward her when she started to fall and caught her before she whacked her head on the chair. She was dead weight in his arms. He shook her a little. "Lucy! Wake up! Get a hold of yourself!" She didn't answer and didn't even twitch. Her breath was light and shallow in his ears. Her heartbeat had slowed. She had passed out...did this happen to her in the bathroom?

He picked her up and gently put her in bed. He took in her face and the grimace. Her eyes were twitching and moving rapidly. Was she asleep? Was she dreaming something again? He hovered over her, not able to do anything but look at her. His fists clenched. How could she be so stupid and do this to herself?! Had he known this was happening or she would do something like this to herself then he would gladly have told her everything! They could've figured it out together instead of ending up like this!

He stepped away and whirled. He resisted the urge to break her tables and chairs when his eyes spotted them. He suddenly took a deep inhale when something came to his attention. There was a most peculiar, almost sweet smell in the air and it was sitting on the table. He went and turned on the lamp at her desk for more light and picked up a glass container. He sloshed it around, getting another bout of sweet aroma from it and quickly covered his nose. He tried to breathe through his scarf for safety as he picked up all the containers and hurriedly dumped them in her kitchen sink. He turned the water on and let it run for what seemed forever. He doused the containers as well and dumped them again.

From what he could figure out, Lucy had created some kind of potion that had put her in a dreamlike state and helped her to remember the memories that she had somehow forgotten. He didn't know if she made all these to drink or inhale, but the fumes from all of them was in the room! He quickly opened all the windows to air the room out. Was the smell how she got under the spell? Did she drink it? The only person who knew anything about this was passed out on her bed and she didn't look like she was waking any time soon.

On his way back from the kitchen, he kicked something on the floor and looked down in confusion. Lucy never had anything on the floor and he bent to see it. He noted the title and realized this book was where Lucy got the potion from. He flipped through a few pages for more information, desperately trying to get more answers to help him before giving up. He put it on the table to take with him later. He'd have someone in the guild look at it in the morning. Right now, he wasn't going to leave Lucy's side without making sure that she was okay!

He grabbed the armchair and dragged it across the floor till it was as close to her bed as he was going to get. Natsu made himself comfortable in it before settling in to watch his poor friend. His thoughts were in turmoil as he stared at her sleeping visage. What did he do now? What did they do now? What he worried about had come true; she didn't want him near her because of what she had done. She wanted him to hate her merely for some stupid actions!

His face flushed, hands clasping together. He rested his chin on them and blatantly stared at her with intense eyes. 'Well...not exactly stupid...' He mentally admitted to himself. There had been many a long, torturous night after he had got back to his house and things became boring. How many times he had fallen from his hammock because he was dreaming of that instance and all the twitching it made him do? His face burned more just thinking about his reaction to the dreams he had and the feelings he felt.

His hands harshly scrubbed his hair, nails digging into his scalp. He grabbed the tousled pink and pulled. This was getting all screwed up! He thought he was past this, but then she went and did this and now he was almost back to square one! Except for one glaring realization...he begrudgingly admitted that he didn't mind what she had done to him and it made him look at her a little differently since she had approached him in his house. It wasn't a bad way, but it was different and it wasn't what he knew. This was unfamiliar territory they had stumbled into and neither of them had any experience in how to handle it and thus they had ended up here because of it!


	7. Chapter 7

Her eyes shot open and she bolted up in bed. The night came back to her in a rush and she looked around the room. She immediately spotted Natsu sitting on the chair and his eyes locking with hers. "Natsu?!" A hand raised between them as if it would separate them. "What...what are you doing here still?" She looked around at the light in her apartment. "What time is it?"

"Nine." He evenly reported, still staring at her.

Her eyes widened. "In the morning? I slept that long?" A hand went to her head. How did she explain this? "Um...listen...about last night...I – I just had a few bad dreams..."

"I know." He tossed the book on her bed. "Care to explain this?"

She cringed and slowly picked it up. It was the spell book she had found at the bookstore. "This...you found it? Where was it?"

"On the floor oddly enough. I assume you tossed it there?"

She dumbly nodded, staring at the pages. She couldn't meet his eyes. "I used this...to remember what happened...because you wouldn't tell me..." She harshly swallowed, finally looking up. He didn't look very happy with her and she understood that. She wasn't happy with what had transpired since she drank the first potion. "I actually drank two of these and some of the memories returned, but they weren't enough for me to figure everything out...they were more like fragments that I couldn't understand. So...I went to your house...to see if you could help me..." She dropped the book on the bed an a finger nervously scratched at her nose. "Levy-chan...said that...the book...that the spell...was kind of...d – dangerous... She didn't advise me to use it..."

His eyes narrowed. "Then why did you? Do you know know what has happened to you over the last few days?"

She meekly nodded, feeling rightly chastised. "I didn't want to use it any more! I wanted to get this information from you, but you threw me out of your house! I tried to not take any more!" She sighed, feeling horrible all over again. "Had I known...I would probably not have asked you...I – I didn't know it was this..." Teeth bit her lip as she flushed and looked away. "Intense. I understand your reaction and why you threw me out and I'm sorry for everything."

"Why?"

She blinked, whipping wide eyes to him, but he wasn't looking at her. "Huh?"

He blushed, fists clenching. "I didn't want you to remember. I said you were better off not knowing...I had no right to force you to leave when all you wanted was to know. I should have just told you so you wouldn't have hurt yourself." His mouth opened as if to say more and quickly clamped shut. He stared at her for what seemed the longest time. "And I...I didn't want you to never come near me ever again because of this. I thought I could protect you from this. I was fine if it was just me who knew..."

Her eyes teared. She knew it had to be something along those lines. "I understand Natsu. I'm touched you tried to do that for me. But if I...had -" She clenched her trembling fists. "Had done...that...to you, then I'd want to know. I guess I don't regret knowing...but, I just...I just don't know...what to do now..."

"You're still my friend...even if that did happen between us." He got up and made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge next to her. He met her eyes, wanting to look away, but unable. "And...I..."

She leaned back, feeling the intensity in the air. They were the only two in the room, they were both flushed, they were both talking about heavy stuff, and he was sitting really close to her. She couldn't look away from his eyes and that night flared in her mind. The same passion shot through her like lightening and she shook against it. Her heart sped up in an instant. "N – Natsu?" Her arm went up between them as if it would keep him from being so close.

"I said that I could never hate you... I don't hate you for what happened between us because...I...didn't mind it... I...DON'T mind it..."

Her eyes widened as what he said instantly sunk in. Her mouth opened as if to rebuke him or deny it, but nothing came out. This couldn't be real! She was shaking from everything that was going in between them. She was intently aware of how close he was, how his hand rested on the bed near her leg, and that there was no one else in the room. She noted his ears were red, but his eyes were honest. He was trembling too.

'Oh my god...' She almost couldn't believe this! She wanted to pinch herself, but she didn't want to move and break this moment. She was torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer. One would keep him at a safe distance until they regained their senses, but the more delicious option would make them lose any sense they possessed. 'Natsu...'

He inched a little closer. "What about you? You haven't said anything other than apologies... Do you mean them? Are you sorry for...that?"

She blinked. Was she leaning in or was that just her imagination? "I..." Her head barely shook. "No...I'm...not..." Her trembling fingers slowly inched in the air and landed on his cheek. "This...is because of you...Natsu." Her eyes lowered when some of his breath met her face. "D – do...you...feel the same?"

Why was she asking? Wasn't he already making it glaringly obvious?! Apparently not enough... His eyes lowered as his lips brushed against hers. "What do you think?" He whispered, letting his shaking jaw touch her mouth in the silence.

She had jolted against him at the touch and she almost passed out from the sheer ecstasy of it all. Her jaw trembled, matching his. Her breathing was choppy and mingled with his. How had they reached here?! Why did she not care in the slightest? The world had faded away to leave them as the only occupants left alive. No noise could get past the rushing blood of her ears. "N – Na -"

He finished the gap, surprising them both. He could hear her gasp of shock. His open eyes took in her wide shocked ones before they slid closed and her hands clutched at his neck. He gave a surprised cry around her lips as she yanked him to her with more force than he had ever known her to have. He steadied himself as he fell on top of her, arms grabbing at the blankets on either side of her head.

She was shaking still and her heart touched him to find his matching her pace. She clutched him like she was drowning and he was all she had to survive with. She pressed her lips against his, feeling how hot his mouth was. It matched the rest of him. She resettled after pulling him toward her, feeling the comfortable weight of his torso press against her. Yes...this was heaven...she could die happy now.

He finally pulled away for air, breathing heavy into her ear. He was seriously attuned to every breath, twitch, pump of her heart that was under him. It was sending him reeling and he couldn't keep up...but he really didn't want to. He wanted to drown in her lips and the sweat that was on his brow at how much he was aching for her right now. "L – Lucy..." He panted.

Hearing her name in such a manner sent a tingle down her that made her bite her swollen lips. "Natsu..." She breathed, brushing through the hair at the nap of his neck. "Yes..." Her free arm pressed his chest to her, wanting to feel him as tightly as possible. "You're...burning up..."

He smiled at the irony that she would use his words before he did. "Ah." He reached out and licked her earring, hearing her gasp. "That's why..." He grabbed onto it with his enlarged canines and nibbled, getting a near shout from her. "You make me burn."

She smiled despite the mood. She was happy to hear those words and they touched her heart. "Natsu...I...love you..."

"Lucy."

"Natsu..."

"LUCY!"

Her eyes popped open with a gasp and she startled. She scrambled up in bed when she realized that there was no weight on her chest, no Natsu kissing her, and that he wasn't even IN her bed! He was actually sitting in her armchair a short distance away from her bed, staring at her with wide, dumbfounded eyes and a VERY flushed face.

It was just a dream?! But it felt so real! She realized she was already red in the face and that she was shaking horribly. She had most delicious combination of adrenaline and hormones that coursed through her body and didn't go away even as she tried to breathe.

Nothing had happened for real? Oh god...was he sitting in that chair listening to her the whole time?! What did he hear? Her eyes widened to match his. If they could pop out of her head and keep her from seeing ever again, she would actually be quite grateful!

She wanted to bury her head under the comforter! No scratch that; she wanted to summon Virgo up and have the spirit dig a hole to the other side of the planet for her to hide on! Oh the mortification of it all! Did he hear all of that? Oh no...

Her head was still reeling from what she had been doing, or not doing, to Natsu...with Natsu. How was that not real?! She had no memory of it ever happening that was for sure! A hand went to her very confused and red face. "A...dream...?" She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. "Natsu...what happened...?"

He couldn't find his voice if his life depended on it. What in the world was she dreaming about?! Whatever it was, it involved him and it was pretty hot given the emotion in her voice. The smell she was emitting right now was about ready to knock him out! She was acting like that night in their hotel room at Crocus. It was kind of unnerving. He tried to bypass how much he knew. "Uh...you...were unconscious in the bathroom when I showed up last night. You had a nightmare apparently."

"Because of the potion..."

"You mean that stuff you had on the table?"

She was getting more confused as they kept talking. She had already explained this! "I told you already, didn't I? Wait..that was the dream... I didn't tell YOU anything, right?"

A brow rose. "No..." He stood and grabbed the book. He held it up for a second before tossing it on her bed. "I found this on the floor oddly enough. Did you use this to make those potions?"

He was repeating himself. He had already said this! "You found it again? Why?" Her eyes squeezed shut as the lust running through her was making thinking difficult. With him in the room, she just couldn't calm down. "I don't understand...I told you about it already...didn't I?"

He decided it would be a good idea to keep his distance. He didn't trust himself around her right now. Not after how her smell and those breathy words were affecting him. He had quite clearly heard that confession and he didn't know what he was going to do about that. He wanted to attribute it to the potions she had drank, but he didn't know what to think! He wisely kept quiet on that for now and hoped she never thought about just how long he had been sitting in her room.

"No you didn't. You were dreaming Lucy. I found you in the bathroom last night passed out. You thought you were going to die from some nightmares. I helped you get into bed and then I stayed to make sure you would be okay. You barely talked about this book or the potions... Just about using it to help remember a dream for a story...that...actually happened."

She felt a distinct thread of disappointment at his words. It had all been a dream... She hadn't told him that they were dangerous and that the side effects could be bad. It sounded like she had just given the tip of the iceberg for information.

" _It seems like the side effects mix up reality and the dream world."_

Reality and the dream world...was this what it meant? She would be dreaming and experience things that were only dreams despite how realistic they seemed? Her fists clenched and pressed into her eyes. She started to despair. No one that she knew of or had met that was a mage outside of Mystogan knew anything about sleep spells. She would have to talk to master or browse their library as soon as she could...but how would she know whether she had actually done anything or not! Her eyes teared. "What have I done?!"

He could smell the tears forming behind her hands. He felt bad for her and what had befallen her. He didn't have the whole story here and he didn't want to press her for information with as tossed around as she was. He picked up the book and headed for the door. "I'll fix this Lucy, don't worry. I'll talk to master and anyone in the guild who may know about this book or its magic! Just promise me that you won't do anything else with this until we can figure out a counter spell."

She looked to him in desperation. "I can't promise you Natsu...I don't know if I'm actually telling you or if I'm just dreaming it..." Hands clutched at her face. "I don't if I'm sleeping or if I'm awake! What's real right now?"

He couldn't leave with her thinking like this. He strode up to her and pulled her hands away. He leaned down to put his forehead against hers and smiled reassuringly. "You can feel this can't you? It proves that I'm right here."

Her brows scrunched together in sadness as she met his eyes. "I could feel you much better in my dreams..." She whispered, getting confused now that he was so close. Even if this was more Natsu-like behavior, she had totally believed the dream Natsu as well. It was more serious than she had seen him toward her and he had never spoken such words, but they never had such an experience between them either before. The actions in her dream were nothing odd within the situation they were in so she had no reason to doubt things.

His eyes widened and his face flushed. He stepped back awkwardly and looked at her. He didn't know how to answer her and so he settled for giving a hand a slight squeeze to try and reassure her. He clutched the book and headed to the door. "Anyway...don't leave this room until I get back! If you think you're dreaming OR awake, you stay here! Got it? I'm going to go to the guild right now and get answers for you. Don't. Leave!"

The door clicked shut and then silence descended. She stared at the entryway for a long time before finally blinking. Don't leave whether she was dreaming or awake huh? What if she was dreaming of a past memory in which she left her apartment? There might not be a way around this... She groaned and put a very exhausted head in her hands.


	8. Chapter 8

He ran as fast as he could to the guild hall. He jumped over people and threw out apologizes to those he bumped into as he passed. He wouldn't stop, he wasn't going to stop until he tracked down anyone that could give him answers to heal Lucy!

He stopped in the main doorway and scanned the room. His acute ears picked up so many voices at once, but most of them weren't those that he was seeking. He finally spotted a jet black mop of hair and hurried over. "Gajeel!" He called out. He noticed the fellow slayer alone and grit his teeth. "Where's Levy at?"

Gajeel's pierced brow rose. "What do I look like, her keeper?"

He didn't even blink. "Yes! Where is she?"

Gajeel looked more put out than he felt and glared at Natsu. "How should I know? Why don't you go looking for those useless team members of hers?"

"Hey, hey Natsu...what's all the fuss about?"

He whirled around and came face to face with Gray's smile. He knew that smile. It was trying to bait him into a fight. He wasn't interested at the moment and he pushed Gray back when the mage got near him. "Leave me alone right now. I need to find someone that can help me with this."

Gray's brows raised when he spied the book. "A book? What do you need that for? You know you don't read." He grinned. "Did you steal it from Lucy's room? You're not planning on selling it are you?"

His teeth grit as he grabbed the shirt the ice mage was oddly still wearing. "Don't start with me right now stripper! I'm not in the mood to pound you into the ground right now!"

Gray's smirk widened. "What makes you think you'd win?" In a second, Gray had dislodged Natsu's grip on his shirt and it was off his torso floating to the ground, showing how serious he was.

Natsu took a step back, his instinct to fight his magic rival flaring up. He forcefully ignored it and realized these two weren't going to be any help. "You're both useless!" He leapt over Gray and made a beeline for the bar. "Mira! Have you seen master around?"

Mira turned toward Natsu and noticed his face wasn't in its usual cheerful smile. She blinked and headed closer. "What's wrong Natsu? How can I help you?"

"You can tell me more about this book or show me where master is!" He groused, throwing the book harshly onto the bar. He was getting more frustrated that everyone was getting in his way. He didn't want to waste any more time on this than had been badly used!

Mira picked up the book and ruffled a few pages. "Spells to recall dreams? I haven't seen this book before; where did you find it?"

"In Lucy's room."

Mira blinked. "Why was it in Lucy's room?"

He threw his hands up in exasperation. "How should I know? She read it and did something stupid with it and now I'm trying to help cure her from whatever is in this book before it's too late!"

"I found her Salamander."

"Natsu, what do you mean too late?"

He whirled at the one voice that he really wanted to hear. "Levy! Do you know anything about this book?"

Levy took the book again. "Lu-chan already showed this to me a few days ago. I told her that the magic wasn't basic stuff and I advised against her using it."

He let a lick of anger go Lucy's way. She knew about it and she still used the magic? He wanted to yell at her for being so stupid when he saw how it had messed her up. "Well she used it! And now she's in big trouble. She's having trouble figuring out what's a dream and reality. She's really messed up!" He took a step toward the mage. "Do you know of anything in here we can use to reverse the spell?"

Her brow furrowed. "Natsu, I already read this when Lu-chan was present and told her the dangers that I could find. There is nothing in here about reversing it though; just how to make the potion and warnings about using it."

He nodded, ears perking up at that last part. "What are they?"

Levy hesitated before flipping the chapter open. "It mentions to not take at least one hour after making or there will be unpleasant side effects. And it also says to not take too often or too much...although nothing to clarify that. Plus, it says for side effects that it mixes up the dream world and reality." The look of foreboding going through Levy right now wasn't a good one. "Natsu...Lu-chan told me that she bought this book because she wanted to remember a dream she had during the tournament. She said she wanted to use it for a story, but she had forgotten it. She didn't mention that she had already used it when she showed it to me. Do you know if she has already made this potion?"

He nodded. "She had a bunch of them sitting out on her dining table. They were all emitting smoke so I dumped them and made sure to clear the air in her room. I could smell it." He paused, eyes widening a little. "I'm not going to be affected too am I?"

Levy's head shook. "You have to drink it for it to take effect. But that's strange about the smoke...I wonder if that's another side effect of the potion. Maybe if it sits for too long it can be breathed in?" A finger thoughtfully went to Levy's chin. "How many more of these has she had? Do you know?"

"I only saw this one..." He tried to place the pieces together since having come into her apartment. "She was acting really weird a few nights ago. The one during the meteor shower, remember? I bet she had drank one around that time."

"So we have two at least...possibly more." Levy clutched the book, immensely worried for her friend. "I'm going to go right now to the library and look for anything that has spells about dreams. Go search out master; I heard him around here a few minutes ago."

He nodded, leaving the book in Levy's care and the pair split up. He tried to pinpoint one smell over all the others and trailed his way around the throng till he found the location that reeked of booze the second highest. First of course would be Kana and the second was their alcohol-loving master. He stopped at one side of the bar and locked eyes. "Master!"

"Hmm? Natsu?"

He leaned on the bar and got in the elder's face. "What do you know about reversing dream spells?" A gigantic hand suddenly pushed him back about three feet. "Hey!"

"Calm down Natsu. I don't know what this is about, but take a seat and tell me what's going on instead of getting in my face."

He suddenly wished he had that book! However, he followed his master's words and plopped on a stool. "Lucy bought a spell book that let her make a potion to help recall her dreams and she's apparently taken too many of them because now she's getting confused about what's reality and a dream. We have to help her and reverse the spell!"

Makarov hummed thoughtfully. "Do you have the book with you? I haven't heard much about this kind of magic..."

He was afraid of that. "Levy took it with her to the archives downstairs." Hands tousled his hair in frustration. "Ah! I knew I should have kept it! She already read the stupid thing and probably has it memorized!"

Makarov tapped his hand on the bar. "Focus Natsu. Tell me what you know. You seem to have more information than any of us here."

He paused. "Uh..." He wracked his brains for just what to say that wouldn't incriminate either him or Lucy and make this an ever-lasting problem for them both. This was something mainly between them. "Okay... But I'm going to tell you about this and then go check on Lucy. She wasn't doing so well when I left her."

0101010

There was nothing Lucy could do until Natsu got back and thus she decided to write a little; the whole point of this deboggle. She stared at the pages she had written and the words on them. How simple they seemed now. She stared at them and remembered back to before she had messed up so much.

Great literature...she had thought that back before she was aware just what was going on. She couldn't write about this! She didn't even want to see these pages anymore! Before she could think, Lucy grabbed the pages and her trashcan and lit them on fire. She watched in satisfaction as the flames ate them away and smoke gathered in its wake.

She didn't think about what would happen after that. All she wanted in that second was to see those cursed dream words vanish. The windows were all closed and the place filled with smoke. She quickly batted at the remains of the pages, burning her hands a little in the process. She grit her teeth against the pain and rushed through the smoke to open the windows. She fiddled with the pane for a second, suddenly hearing another one next to her open as well. What?!

"What are you doing stupid?! Are you trying to burn the whole place down?"

She blinked, trying to find her way with the smoke stinging her watery eyes. She coughed and tried to get below everything. "Natsu?"

"Who else would it be? Hurry up and help me open these windows!" They made short work of the remaining few and she watched him kneel and eat the burning embers. When done, he pulled her to the floor where oxygen would be. "What's wrong with you? Are you thinking this is all a dream?! You could've killed people!"

She scrubbed her face, trying to clear her vision. "I...I just thought that -"

He shook her a little. "No you didn't! You have to stop and be careful about everything you idiot! What would have happened if I wasn't here? You would have inhaled too much smoke and probably be dead! Look at your hands...we need to get those taken care of."

They chanced standing when the air had cleared more and made their way to the bathroom. Natsu shut the door and opened the bathroom window to let out the little bit of smoke that was there. He roughly pulled her hands to the sink and turned the water on.

Her eyes teared at how pathetic she felt in this second. She wanted to apologize, but all she could do was watch Natsu rub her abused fingers under cold water. He was still so warm even if the water was freezing. "I'm...I'm sorry Natsu..." She finally got out, feeling tears fall again. "I just don't know what's wrong with me!"

He looked at her and turned the water off. He studied her hands, finding them to be less than horrible. "You have to be careful right now idiot..." He quietly repeated. He brought her hands up and kissed the burns. "Do you know how crazy I would go if you died on me again?"

Her eyes widened. She was suddenly wary as she watched his lips tenderly touch her burnt skin. "This...this isn't real...is it? This is just a dream..."

He paused and looked at her, mouth hovering over her hands. "Yes, it is. I'm actually at the guild and you're currently passed out on the floor in the main room. You tried to get up to get some food and suddenly fell asleep."

Her eyes fearfully widened. "Can I wake up? How do I wake myself up before you get back and find me like that? I don't want you to worry about me!"

He softly smiled and pulled her to him. "I know." A hand rested on her hair, the other arm going around her. "Your hands are also fine by the way. I know you think you feel pain, but that's just your mind compensating for your confusion right now."

She gripped his open shirt, seeing perfectly fine skin and nails. Her eyes watered through a pained cry. "How can I break this spell? I did this for all the wrong reasons and now I feel trapped in here!"

He pulled away from her and forced her to look at him with a hand under her chin. "Is that so bad? I'm still here with you in your dreams..."

Tears fell from her face as she looked at him in sweet agony. "But...you're not real..." She whispered.

He brushed her lips with his like last time and stopped there. "So? I'm as real as you want me to be. Shall I remind you of the previous dream you had with me? I was real then, wasn't I?"

His mouth pressed against hers and she jumped. Her hands trembled on his top as she lost resistance for a second. She kissed him as hard and as passionately as he was kissing her, as he had kissed her before. Her eyes flew open, staring at his closed lids. Wait...they had never kissed...that was a dream from the potions she had taken! With serious difficulty, she pushed him away, feeling her heart break a little. "This isn't real..." She panted, breathing heavily. "None of it is...I'm passed out in the other room you said..." She glared at him with clenched fists. "You would never kiss me in real life! We've never done so yet...that was all fake! You don't think of me that way!"

He grinned and stepped toward her again. "Are you so sure of that?"

Her eyes widened as she stood frozen while he pressed her against him again. Her arms remained limp at her sides as he leaned past her face to suck on her earlobe. He toyed with her heart earring and she almost fell to the floor in a simpering puddle. No...this was wrong...this wasn't real...she was just making this up from some side effect of the potion and what she had done to him in the past! Even if she had never taken it this far, she had done some things that were still making her feel lust and it was the same lust she was feeling now with him.

She finally pushed him away again, feeling the earring tear out of her ear. She knew it wasn't real and thus felt no pain. She looked at him as he pulled it from his mouth and held it out to her. She was wary that he would try to get her again if she touched it and thus backed up a step. "I want to wake up now." She ordered.

His hand closed around the earring and dropped to his sides. He was flushed, same as she was, but he seemed in much more control. He stared at her before he grinned. "Why do you want to? You won't know if I'm real or not once you do and this will still feel like it actually happened. You're falling further into this world with me. The world where you WANT me to do this to you." His gaze softened, brows raising a little. "Don't you?" He took a step toward her, empty hand raising toward her. "Your emotions created me from what you really want. I'm here because of you and the help of those potions. The dream world mixed with your reality. The things I know from your own memories...your own emotions."

Hands clutched her head. He was confusing her! She took a step back, eyes squeezing shut. She liked this...she wouldn't lie anymore to herself. She had feelings for Natsu, but this was wrong. This wasn't really him! He was fake...just like he said! He was a phantom created from her own desires to do this with the real Natsu. She had to get out of this before she wanted to stay here. She feared staying here, even with as nice as it felt!

He touched her shoulder lightly, still looking at her with affection. "You know...I don't mind it if I'm not real...so long as I can spend this time with you..."

Her eyes popped open with a gasp. She noted that her head hurt and that there was a chair on the floor. Oh...she must have hit it on her way to the ground. She couldn't bring herself to get up. She just didn't have the will this second. She could pinch herself, but that could be a lie...although dream Natsu told her that she was passed out on the floor and here she was next to her dining table so maybe this WAS reality.

How long had she been here for? She pondered dream Natsu's words. He was probably right in a few aspects. She wanted Natsu to do those perverted things to her. The past few days that had enveloped her in this whirlwind had become so pleasing and she honestly wanted them to continue. She had never felt so alive and it was all because of what he did when he touched her. But it was probably all a lie brought on by the potions and one stupid night.

" _I_ _don't_ _mind_ _it_ _if_ _I'm_ _not_ _real...so_ _long_ _as_ _I_ _can_ _spend_ _time_ _with_ _you..."_

His words echoed in her head, so sincere and emotional. Her eyes teared. She was never going to get out of here! She was going to stay asleep if this kept up and end up making her own reality based on her past dealings and that past Natsu was going to mix with what she wanted from him. A fist pounded on the floor weakly. "Kuso! Kuso!" The sound of a door opening suddenly met her ears, but she didn't care to see who it was.

"Lucy!" He paused, finding her on the floor and hurried to her side. He put the chair up and cradled her to help her sit up. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you hurt? Why is the chair on the floor?"

She batted his hand away and sat up. "Don't touch me...I don't know if it's really you or not!" She harshly scrubbed her face and glared at him.

A brow rose as he met her eyes. He suddenly felt like he had to tread very carefully here. "Lucy, let's get you off the floor okay? I just got back from the guild. I left with your book remember? You didn't dream about that right?"

"You already told me that you were at the guild while I was passed out on the floor. I know that already. Tell me something that I don't already know!"

He tried to get her to stand, but she refused to get up. His lips tightened as he tried to find something concrete. He tried to explain having known about her father's death and their time on Tenroujima and her battle with Raven Tail and the dragons, but she didn't seem to believe him.

"I already know all this. Dream Natsu already knows all this too."

"Dream Natsu?"

She nodded and looked away. "He said that I created him and he knows everything that comes out of my memories. There's nothing you could say now that I don't already know that he wouldn't know."

He shook her in his urgency to make her understand. "Snap out of it already! I'm real! You're awake and I'm going to have the guild work on a cure for you! You have to believe me here!" She stared at him with a poker face for what seemed the longest time. He met her eyes to reassure her that he was indeed here and not some fake hallucination.

"There's is a way I might know which one you are..." She murmured to herself, not breaking eye contact. "There is something you and I have never done in real life and thus couldn't be in my memories."

He suddenly heard warning lights go off in his head. "W - what's that?"

Instead of answering him, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She kissed him as passionately as she had dream Natsu, but only for a second before he pushed her away. She stared at him and blinked as it clicked and the two of them separated. "You're real..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He roared, face flaring. He shoved her away and quickly stood. What in holy hell was going on here?! The world was going to pieces!

She felt glued to the spot. He was real...this wasn't a dream. She was awake! "You're the real Natsu." She quickly stood and took a step toward him. "I know you're real! Dream Natsu thought I was lying, but now I know; you would never kiss me in real life because you don't think of me that way!"

He flushed further, heart beating wildly at her accusation. He took a step back against her advances. He cringed when she got in his face, not ready for this. He had no idea just what he could say that didn't complicate things further and utterly destroy everything they had built. But he didn't want to lie her to her and tell her no. She was confusing him! "I..." He whipped around her and made for the front door. "I'm sending Happy to keep an eye on you. You and I shouldn't be together right now for your own safety."

She started when the door opened. "Wait...Natsu!" She took a step in his direction, a hand reaching out. "Please! Wait! It's really you! Please don't leave! Don't leave me alone like this again!"

It killed him to click the door shut on her again, leaving her alone for a second time here. His jaw clenched at the urgency and pleading in her voice. He silently vowed to not rest until she was back to normal. He wanted his happy Lucy back! He would figure out what to do about her emotions toward him later. Right now...he wanted her to stop crying and smile with him!

She listened to his steps on the stairs until the creaking stopped. She pounded on the floor in frustration and screamed. She swore with all the evil that was invading her, trying to get it out. This was the second time he forced her away from him because she had gotten so close. Tears dripped onto the carpet and she watched them fall. "It's over...it will never be like it was...he ran...and it's all my fault again!"


	9. Chapter 9

How long had she cried for? She must have remained on the floor for what seemed an eternity. She finally sat up, getting the feeling that she had fallen asleep since Natsu left. It was still daytime; had she slept an entire day away? Day and night had just become mere words and meant nothing to her. She was always tired because she was just so physically and emotionally exhausted. Things were stressing her out so much and it was wearing on her big time.

She didn't know if she had slept or dreamed what anymore. The real world was getting sucked up in her subconscious. Except...these tears and this sadness were because of real Natsu. That last kiss was real because of his reaction. That was the real Natsu; the Natsu that didn't look at her romantically.

She gradually walked around her room, ending up at the dining table. She slowly pulled out a chair and plopped in it. Natsu said he didn't want to be near her for her own safety...but she felt the safest when she was next to him! Although she grudgingly admitted that if she couldn't tell exactly who he was without resorting to something absolutely foolhardy like she just did then perhaps he shouldn't be around her. Maybe that would help her know when she was actually talking to Natsu and dreaming about him.

A hand gingerly pressed on her shoulder. She sighed, crossing her arms and burying her head in them. It felt good to lay her head down for a bit. "You left." She mumbled, knowing it would still be heard.

"Yea...I did... And you're still on the floor...again..."

Her lips twitched at his attempt at humor. "You never were good at telling jokes you know..."

"I know that too...but I still try don't I?"

She sat up, tightly clutching the hand that moved with her and boring holes into the curtain to her kitchen. "I know what you're trying to do and you can try to cheer me up all you want, but the fact is that I still ruined absolutely everything...again."

The other hand landed on her other shoulder and started slowly kneading them. "I'm not so sure of that. I freaked out, but did you see how red my face was? I was embarrassed, but then again, I often am when it comes to you."

She pouted. "That's cause you don't think about anything other than fighting." Her eyes closed in appreciation. "And the real you certainly doesn't give shoulder rubs worth a damn, let alone this well!"

He snorted and kept going. "I suppose I can take that as a compliment to one up my other self then. That means you're actually enjoying the shoulder rub of your over-active imagination."

"You had to remind me of that?" She brushed him off to stand. She turned and looked into his face, noting he didn't seem concerned at all about the fact that she was perturbed about this. Why would he? He lived in this world and she didn't. "If I created you out of my own emotions then you should know very well how upset I am right now and try to make me feel better!"

He smiled when she stamped a foot onto the floor. "Fine." His arms raised, baring his open-shirted chest and inviting her in. "Come here then and I'll make you feel better." Her heart skipped a beat and she scrunched back at his words. His eyes rolled. "Oh relax, I was just going to give you a hug you pervert!"

She looked away embarrassed even as she slowly stepped into his arms. She felt them encircle her and the warmth they gave. She just couldn't stay quiet though and had to have the last word. "Isn't that calling the kettle black?" He chuckled and kissed the top of her forehead. She sighed and pulled away, unable to enjoy this right now. She really wanted to, but she wasn't over the latest problem up she had created. "I'm sorry...I just...can't do this right now..."

He gave her an understanding smile and stepped back. "I understand. Not a problem. We can do so later when you feel less guilty." He winked and headed to her bed. He hopped on it and opened a window. "How about we get you out of here for a while? You need some fresh air and a change of scenery!"

She blinked at him, before her eyes strayed to her pajamas. "I'm not dressed to go out and didn't you already tell me not to leave this room and pretty much make you promise not to whether I was dreaming or awake?"

He snorted and headed to her dresser. "When do I ever listen to my own advice? I'm not that me and I'm far superior to him in every aspect because I'm getting you out of here for your own well-being; not locking you up for your own safety!" He yanked out some articles and held them out to her. "Now come on and get dressed already!"

She blushed when one of the items in his hand was her underwear. She quickly snatched it from his hands and pushed him away from her drawers. "I'll choose my own clothes! Go away for now and reappear when I'm dressed."

A brow furrowed in confusion. "Why? You think I haven't seen you naked more times than I can count on my fingers?" A devilish smile appeared as he got in her face. "Why make me go away when you know you want to change in front of me. Come on...give me a thrill!"

She pushed him away, face flaming. She ignored his laughter at her expense and stared at her dresser. The colors of her clothes were the same as the real world. Everything was here exactly as she had put it away. She agonized over a good outfit, finally picking out a few items and closed the drawers. The scrape of wood on wood was too loud in the silence. She finally turned to see him staring at her from his position leaning against the baseboard of her bed. Fingers tightened around her clothing.

His eyes were intense again and they were burning into hers. He was wearing the same outfit that he always did with it opened wide to shamelessly reveal his chest and all those rippling muscles. His arms were crossed. He looked like quite the alpha male right now and quite cocky at that with that boyish smile tinged with smugness. She feasted on his figure from this distance, almost forgetting what she was doing.

She suddenly realized that he was right, but she somehow wanted to keep some sense of dignity here! All of those instances in battle were not her fault or her actually wanting to get naked in front of him. But this was different. She would choose to do this and the boldness of it all made her feel alive. This was a dream and she could do whatever she wanted and not worry about the consequences. A dream was what you made of it...especially if you knew it was a dream. She was almost thrilled alone at that thought and suddenly had no reason to argue with him. Her hands trembled and she wondered if she would physically be able to move them.

Having made up her mind, she was hesitant and told her legs to move a few times. She shuffled to the dining table and put her clothes on them silently. She locked eyes with him and a sly smile that slowly lost its edge as the buttons came off on her pajama top. His face flamed as she slid the garment from her shoulders, revealing her chest in all its glory to him. This was totally different than all of those other times. There was never an appropriate moment to focus specifically on him admiring her bare form...and she had never truly wanted him to unlike now.

He was still staring at her and she was burning up and shaking! He wasn't anywhere near her and his eyes had that kind of power over her. The top lay pooled around her hips and at the edges of her dead arms. The air felt good on her skin as her heart was thumping rapidly and heating her up. She actually forgot to breathe for a second.

She finally remembered just what she was doing. When she finished putting the top on the table, she looked at him and found his lips somewhat parted. The arms that had been crossed over his chest were hanging limply at his sides. She harshly swallowed as she suddenly took delight in making him react this way...even if it wasn't real... That fact was quickly disappearing as she stared at him, feeling as turned on as he must feel. She almost wondered if he was shaking as bad as she was and could see his hands twitch. Yes...they were sharing this experience on the same emotional level and her heart warmed from that thought.

She finally ended his agony and put her top on. She emitted a shaky breath as she looked down. Her fingers slowly tugged her pajama pants till they pooled at her ankles. She picked them up and added them to the table. She subtly looked his way and found his eyes had widened a little. She tried to keep her lips from twitching. She put the shorts on over her underwear and finally looked him in the eye.

"Ready..." She breathed, not moving from her spot of safety. It seemed like her words almost didn't register in his ears until he finally pushed off the edge of her bed frame. He moved almost in slow motion as he neared her. "N – Natsu...?"

He stopped in front of her, looking her up and down with an appreciative smile. "I like it. Especially the top..." He leaned down past her face, mouth stopping next to her ear. "You leave yourself wide open for attack."

She jumped out of her skin when his mouth clamped down on her shoulder. She panted as he applied pressure and drew her skin to his teeth. Then he bit her. She cried out and grabbed his arms to steady herself. She could feel the points from his enlarged canines prick her skin. The pain felt great in its own way, even if it did hurt a little. It barely registered with what he was doing though.

She leaned against him and he easily supported her weight. Her head lolled against his, eyes hardly seeing his neck. Before catching herself, her lips opened in slow motion and her teeth clamped around his jugular. His heartbeat roared against her tongue.

He jolted at the sensation and pressed her against him roughly. They stood there for who knew how long in beautiful ecstasy. His hands dug into her hips and pushed her against him. "Lucy..." He whispered, breath hot over her skin.

She almost lost the will to stand and her legs faltered. She transferred more support to him and licked his skin, feeling how hot he was. She imagined that she quite matched him and wondered if she would ever have a normal body temperature ever again. They were doing each other in and raising each other up. She could feel his glorious muscles, his hot breath, his fiery skin, and...oh! Her eyes popped open as she shoved away from him, trembling from a sudden bout of insecurity and fear.

He stumbled back and looked at her in confusion, wiping his mouth dry. "Lucy? What is it?" He panted, trying to get back under control. Something was wrong if she pushed him away from something she was obviously enjoying so much. What had he done wrong?

Her eyes darted to his waist, his face, his waist, and then she refused to look at him. She took a few steps away and tried to cool off. "I...it's just...I'm not...ready for that yet...I think..."

He watched her look at him and looked down. He coughed awkwardly and looked away. "Yea...that's fine... Sorry... I must have gotten...caught up in the moment... I won't do anything like that again until you tell me it's okay."

She smiled and looked at him. "Thanks dream Natsu... Even if you are in my head...I still appreciate those words."

He took a step toward her and grabbed a hand. "Stop calling me dream Natsu! I know that's what I am, but you can drop the extra. I'm still him! Just call me Natsu like you did before you found out."

"I can't. I need to keep you separate...for my own sake. I'm sorry, but I feel like if I just call you Natsu then there will be no way to save me from here."

He pouted and let her go. "I wouldn't mind it if you decided to stay with me... We could be the two of us doing whatever it was we wanted. We'd never die or get hurt and we could stay like this and always be together."

Her eyes closed. "I know... It sounds great too... But..."

"I'm not real."

"No..."

He stopped in front of her and put a finger under her chin to get her to look at him. "I'll just have to try to best my counterpart then won't I?" He grinned and dropped the subject before those words fully registered with her. "How about we go now that you're dressed."

Her eyes rolled as he hopped to the bed and made for the window. "Why can't you take the front door like a normal person?" But she found herself climbing onto her bed behind him.

He flashed a grin and grabbed her hand. "Because if I was a normal person, you wouldn't love me as much."

Her face flamed and her mouth opened. She didn't get a chance to retort as he yanked them both from the opening and down to the ground below. She screamed and clutched his arm, but found they had suddenly halted inches off the ground. "We're not dead?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "No we're not dead you baby! It's only one story!"

She slapped his shoulder and glared. "Normal people could get hurt you risk-taking, dragon slayer you!" She looked to the ground and noted she hadn't fully landed. "So...how do we get down?"

He smiled and let her go to fly around her. "Who cares? We should just go flying around today! Doesn't that sound fun?"

She watched him spin around her and a brow rose. "Won't you get motion sickness?" Her eyes transfixed on what he was doing and she was amazed that he was showing this to her. She was starting to become really envious.

He stopped upside down and looked at her confidently. "I'm what you make me to be remember? You always hated it that I had motion sickness." An accusing finger pointed, although he was smiling. "If I knew how you truly feel about that and how annoyed you really get when we traveled somewhere, yet have never told me, I may get a little cross with you! But I have to admit that I like the cure!"

She watched him take off and listened to his whoops of excitement as he went a short distance. She smiled and looked to herself. Just how did she do this anyway? She didn't know how to fly, so how did Natsu take to it like a natural? Sure he had propelled himself through the air a few times using his fire, but this was still different...

He stopped in front of her and grabbed a hand. "Come on slow poke! The day isn't going anywhere, but we should!" He towed her up and over the river. She looked down, fearing that she would land in the water again and clutched him. "Hey, let go now! You'll be fine you wuss! Just trust that you can do this...it's a dream remember?"

She timidly let go and looked down, ready to fall, but didn't. She was thankful she had shorts on, even if there was not a soul to be found anywhere nearby. The longer she hovered over the landscape, the more thrilled she became. This was glorious! She beamed and looked to Natsu who still stayed nearby. "This is amazing!" Her arms flapped as she laughed from the sheer, childlike pleasure of it all. "I can't believe I'm flying! How do I move though?"

He smiled and floated backwards. "You just have to make yourself do it. As simple as that."

Her brow arched. "And why are YOU so good at it Mr. motion sickness?"

He stuck his tongue out at her and circled her. "Dragons were born to fly remember? Duh!" He reached out and swiped his fingers across her legs and waist. He fluttered around her just out of reach when she went to bat him away. "I almost wish you had picked a skirt instead of shorts!" He playfully jabbed. "I would have so much more fun up here."

She reached out to kick him away, knowing she wouldn't hurt him or even land a blow. He easily avoided her attack and taunted her to catch him. Determination crossed her face as her fists clenched. 'As easy as telling yourself to do so huh?' She suddenly smirked and willed herself to propel herself forward so fast that she caught up to dream Natsu.

In a second she shot forward and was upon him. He had been overly teasing her all morning and the one in full control here. There would be no more of that as she thought of something that would fray his nerves a little. Her hands reached out and hit their aim when she snagged the edge of his scarf and unraveled it from his head before he could think. "I always wanted to try this thing on..." She mused, quickly evading his arms.

"Hey! Igneel gave me that! You can't have it!"

She laughed and flew high into the sky, telling herself to go faster. All the trouble and tears and worry and paranoia over the last few days had melted away as she escaped him by flying around buildings, under bridges, and into the air. This was the best feeling in the world! It was too bad she didn't have magic like Erza to let her sprout wings and fly for real.

The scarf was rough wool in her bare arms, but it was still warm and smelled like dream Natsu. She was honest in the fact that she always wanted to try it on. Real Natsu had NEVER taken it off and given it to anyone else. It was his most prized possession and she had never seen him without it. While she evaded dream Natsu, she wrapped it around her neck, trying to mimic how he wore it.

She refused to let the fact that this wasn't reality dampen her mood. She didn't want to think about the potion and the blending of reality with this amazing experience right now. She wanted to enjoy it for what it was worth in this moment with dream Natsu. They had truly become birds in this time and flew around the city, looking at it from an eagle eye. They spent time on rooftops looking around and toyed with the cathedral bells just because they could.

They finally landed on the roof of a restaurant and the smells below got her. She inhaled appreciatively and noted that dream Natsu did the same. Still being blissfully ignorant, they floated to the ground and walked into the room. They sat down in silence. She felt a little weird that no one was there and a second after that thought, a few groups of blurred faces popped up and started chatting something amidst themselves that she couldn't hear. The noise blended and became a quiet, pleasant din that you would hear in any restaurant.

"You know the best thing is that we don't have to pay for what we eat if we don't want to."

She glared over the menu. "We're paying for this!"

He put the menu down and gave her a weird look. "Why? This isn't real remember? You're not actually eating anything."

"Yea...but it'd feel wrong not to!"

"Whatever."

"You're horrible! We're paying and that's final!"

He leaned over the table with a grin. "With what jewels?"

She stopped and blinked a few times. His smug look made her want to flick him on the forehead, but she thought of his words and smiled. "With these." She cupped her hands together and opened them, sprouting a shining set of new coins practically spilling over her palms. She set them on the table, satisfied and stuck her tongue out at him. "There. And no more back-talk!"

He grabbed a coin out of the stack and flicked it in the air. "That's the spirit! Make the world as you want it...you are dreaming after all."

She didn't know why he was repeating that so much. Was he trying to drive that point home or was he just making fun of her because she kept calling him 'dream' Natsu? She left it alone and picked out some food. When their order had been taken, she looked around, not able to see any faces or hear any actual words. Because this wasn't a memory, she was creating this as she wanted and nameless people could only be produced.

"Don't worry about it." He suddenly chastised. She looked at him and met his eyes. He propped his head up and looked at his scarf on her neck. He smiled and reached out with a hand to flick the fringe around. "Y'know...I think my scarf almost looks just as good on you as it does me." His eyes softened a little as he kept playing with his prized possession. "Why don't you hold onto it for me?"

Her eyes widened and she touched the wool. She looked to it. "This is something really valuable to you dream Natsu! This is yours and I can't take it with me when I wake up. "

His eyes closed when she mentioned that addition to his name. He head shook as he bypassed it again. "That's why I don't mind if you hold onto it. I know you're aware of how much I treasure it. And since I'm simply a dream, I don't have to worry about where it'll be if I'm not wearing it. You can wear it whenever you want, whether I'm with you or not. Remember...a dream was what you made of it. All you have to do is think about it and it'll happen."

She touched the scarf and envisioned it back on dream Natsu. In a second, he was wearing it again. Just as it popped on his shoulders, she suddenly realized that it was comfy to wear and wanted it back. Just like that, it disappeared from him and the weight was on her. She smiled and met his eyes. "I suppose...that's not so bad..."


	10. Chapter 10

Her lids fluttered open, almost laboring in their journey up her eyes. It took a while for her vision to clear and she noted that it was hard to see in the room. It wasn't fully dark, but the light was low and not very usable. She heard a crack of thunder and suddenly realized the reason was because it was cloudy and raining. Rain? She blinked as that thought. When was the last time she had seen rain? Did this mean she was awake?

Her head tilted in the pillow. She realized that her comforter was over her and she was properly tucked in bed. The only sound she could hear was the patter of raindrops on the windows next to her. She stared at the rain as it moved down slowly. The view past the glass was blurry, but she could still see through it. Oh the irony... It completely reflected her life at this moment. It was hard to see into the real world because it was nice and warm and comfortable where she was and she couldn't get a good glimpse of the outside from her place here no matter how much she kept staring.

When she started to yawn, the overpowering smell of fish came to her and her nose scrunched up. It came back to her that she realized real Natsu's final words to her had been that he was going to send Happy to watch her. Depending on how long she had been out this time, of course he would be having something to eat.

"Lucy? Lucy! You're awake!"

She slowly sat up and paused. An eye twitched. There were three fresh-looking fish skeletons on her comforter! She cringed at them and wondered if that smell was ever going to come out! "Happy!" She admonished, abruptly falling back to the pillow. "Huh?" A hand went to her head. "What...why do I feel so weak all of a sudden?"

Happy walked up to her so she could see him without getting up. "You haven't had anything to eat for at least a day...maybe more." He grabbed a fish out of the ever-present pack on his back and shoved it in her face. "You want one of my fish?"

She looked away, slowly moving a hand from the covers to push it away. "Yuck. No thank you. You can have it!" She forced herself to sit up, mentally taking stock of her physical body. Her muscles felt like they haven't been used in forever and she was worried that she had been asleep for too long this time. "How long was I out for when...when Natsu left and told you to come over?"

"Half a day." Happy reported. He plopped down and grabbed her exposed hand. "Lucy...you're going to be okay right? You won't go away on us?"

She blinked, brow furrowing at his worried voice. "Go away?" She quietly echoed. She tried to smile and reassure the poor cat. "Why do you think that?"

"Natsu told me what happened! You know that it's really me right?"

Told Happy...what happened...?! Her face flamed. "H – he...did...huh? Just...just what did he...tell you?" Happy picked on them enough as it was and she didn't need him to know exactly how she felt toward real OR dream Natsu! She could only hope that he wasn't watching her like real Natsu had done that time he left for the guild with her book! She was going to have a hard time as it was after this was all over!

"That you took a powerful magic potion to remember a dream for a stupid reason that you shouldn't have done. He said that it had gone all wrong and now you were going to be stuck asleep if we didn't cure you." Happy turned worried. "You didn't answer me any time I tried to talk to you in your sleep. You didn't even know I was next to you..."

She put a hand on the back of his head and scratched his ears affectionately. "I'm sorry about that Happy. You know I would never purposely ignore you." She pasted on a smile. "I'm sure everyone is working their best to figure out a way to stop this. Don't worry...we'll get this spell undone!"

Happy smiled. "Aye!"

She sat up finally when her stomach rumbled. "I need to get some food. I'm absolutely starving..." She dragged the comforter off her and pulled her legs out from under it. Her feet touched chilly wood floor and she shivered a bit. Mentally steeling herself and feeling adjusted to sitting up, she made to stand and teetered. She quickly grabbed the headboard before she fell. She didn't need to get knocked out into dreamland again! She had to take this precious time to take care of herself while she still had the chance! Even if she was only out for half a day, it felt like ages since she had escaped her subconscious.

"Lucy!" Happy's wings suddenly sprouted as he took off and grabbed the back of her pajamas. He steadied her, but didn't let go when she righted. "Are you okay?"

She huffed at her behavior. This was getting really pathetic. The partner of Natsu Dragoneel taken out of commission with mere dreams! "Sorry about that Happy. Thanks for the help."

"Aye! I'll help you to the kitchen and we can get you some food."

She honestly didn't know what would still be good at this point. She hadn't gone shopping since this whole thing started and she hoped everything in her pantry hadn't gone bad. She pushed the curtain aside for them, expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised. The kitchen was actually immaculate and she looked around with wide eyes. The sink was empty of dishes, the counters looked recently wiped, and there were no bad smells emanating from anywhere.

She walked to the pantry with Happy's help and opened the doors. Her eyes widened as she saw dishes wrapped up. They looked recent and she knew she wouldn't have been able to leave and get them herself. She pulled out one and looked at it in confusion. "What?"

Happy looked at what she held. "That's from Mira! She made you a few things for in case you woke up."

Her eyes teared and her heart swelled. She refused to cry over this! She pulled the cover off the bowl and smelled it. She didn't know what it was exactly, but it smelled great and she practically devoured it Natsu-style once it got to her dining table. She was hungrier than she thought!

She enjoyed a mostly quiet eating time with Happy as he snacked on the fish he had tried to give her earlier. It felt good to share his company and she realized that she missed him. For some reason, Happy hadn't been in her dream world at all. Was that because she had spent most of her awake time so far with real Natsu? Dream Natsu said that he was made from her memories and emotions. It didn't explain why no one else from the guild was there...

She managed to get the dish washed while Happy helped her stand. She liked the normalcy of cleaning up after herself after being able to create money from thin air and fly around. The dream world was an amazing place and she could do anything she wanted, but this was where she belonged.

She paused after setting the bowl to dry and stared hard at it. Dream Natsu kept mentioning in her last bout that she wasn't awake and that none of it was real. Was he trying to tell her something? Did his words and actions actually contradict some hidden meaning that she wasn't seeing? She didn't ask him because at that time in the restaurant she truly wanted to enjoy the time she had with him. Perhaps she should ask him the next time she saw him...

The mere thought of dream Natsu and wanting to discuss something with him felt like a pull on her conscious. Her head shook, not wanting to leave just yet. She had barely set foot on her actual floors and only spent a few measly hours with Happy and already she was being pulled back? No...she wanted to stay here a little longer! 'Please, don't send me back there yet!'

She could feel a much stronger pull; as if her subconscious wasn't happy for being ordered to wait. She hurriedly pushed away from the counter and made for the curtain. "Happy...I think I'm slipping again..." She pushed the curtains away, trying to force herself to stay with it till she could get to bed. "I need your help... Get me...to the bed..."

"Aye sir!" Happy easily raised her up enough so her feet floated an inch off the floor. He sped up and got the edge of her bed and looked down. "Lucy? We're here. Lucy?" Happy shook her a bit, noting her limp hands and how they swayed with his movements. His brow furrowed as he tried to get her into bed as best as possible. "Lucy... Hang in there! We'll save you!" With nothing else to do, Happy dragged the blanket back over her to keep her warm and then curled up near her legs to keep an eye on his poor friend.

Her eyes opened as she sat up in bed and looked at her windows. The sun was shining and she heard the bustle of the city below. Dream Natsu was hanging out with his arms crossed over her windowsill. She knew it was a dream and not real Natsu because his legs were floating in the air outside, idly kicked back and forth.

"So what do you want to do today?" He asked with a grin.

She looked to the bed. The room didn't smell like fish and Happy wasn't around. She felt bad that she had only been able to see the adorable cat for such a short time. "Happy..."

"Aye sir!"

She startled and looked over to the window. Happy's blue head was currently shoving past dream Natsu's through the window. The pair struggled a bit before Happy popped over and hopped into her arms. "Happy?"

Happy snuggled against her and smiled at her. "Lucy!"

She smiled and pet his head a bit. She didn't know why he was here, perhaps because he was actually in her room and she knew this now. She was glad to see him regardless. He truly did fit his name. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you Lucy! Natsu said you've been sick and so I stopped over to see you!" His adorable face took on a tinge of sadness. "You're not going to die are you?"

She blinked, feeling dejá vu. Didn't he already ask her this? She patted his head and shook hers. "No I'm not dying. I just...haven't been myself is all." She looked over to dream Natsu, wondering if he made dream Happy aware of this world and what was going on. He looked at her like he always did, with that easy-going look and charming smile on his face. It was like old times, complete with them barging in through the window...except for the floating part.

His smile changed, face becoming a little sad and knowing. His head shook ever so slightly and answered her silent question without words. He looked to his friend and flew into the room before stretching. "So...are you going to answer my question?" He avoided.

She looked at him, unsure of what he was talking about. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Hands went to his hips as he looked a little put out. "I asked you what you wanted to do today. Any ideas? I can always think up something fun if you can't."

This seemed so much like real Natsu that she almost thought she was awake for a second. But Happy seemed totally unaware of what was going on and she clearly recalled his words about the potion. This dream Happy just thought she was sick and she knew real Natsu wouldn't lie to him like that. It felt wrong to have him here like this while she knew that he was being kept in the dark and she couldn't look at him. In a second after that thought transpired, her arms suddenly dropped and felt empty. She quickly looked down, but dream Happy was already gone. She startled and looked to dream Natsu for answers.

He sighed and plopped on her bed. "I didn't tell him he wasn't real." He quietly informed, looking down. "I didn't know if he could handle it. It's just Happy; I want him to always be smiling, you know?"

Her fists clenched. "But you still lied to him! You told him that I was just sick! How could you do that?"

He looked at her, eyes almost sad. "How could I tell you about that memory you have that you had forgotten which had affected me so much? Now that you know everything, do you think you can go back to pretend it had never happened?" He looked away from her, lips pulled taunt. He already knew the answer because he pulled off her emotions and knew her thoughts on the subject.

She stared at his side profile and considered his words. He was right; she didn't want to make this Happy suffer at all because she had created this world to her own selfish purpose. But...it just didn't seem like normalcy if he wasn't here. She thought back to the dreams she had since she took that first potion and realized that it had been her and dream Natsu for the entire time. There was no one else...why was that? "Why are you the only one that I interact with? I don't understand..."

He looked at her and shifted on the bed to sit and face her. His legs crossed when she made room for him to sit more comfortably. "This all started from that memory and those potions. I was the only one with you at the time so you started from me and worked outward using the areas that you have frequented until now. Have you ever wondered why you enter this world in your bedroom and usually in bed? It's because, for the most part, you're somewhere in this apartment and not outside. If you wanted to change that, you'd just have to tell yourself to be somewhere else when you fall asleep."

This mass amount of information was making her head spin. She put a hand to her head. "How...how do you know all this?"

A hand scratched the back of his head. "I suppose I may be a piece of your subconscious. You're really smart, you know that? You have all sorts of answers stuck in your head that I can access. The more you're here and the more you use your mind to create whatever you want, whether it be a scenario or an item, the more you open up your consciousness." A hand propped his head up with help of a knee. "You remember a lot of this whenever you do wake up right?"

She nodded. How did he know that? Because it was coming from her memories? "Yea. I had such trouble when I woke up after that first potion, but now it's like shifting any thought pattern. I guess that's why I get so confused when I really do wake up. This place looks and feels so real."

He looked annoyed. "That's because you didn't wait the full hour you moron!" A hand lashed out and chopped her on the head. He knew it wouldn't hurt her, but still felt like he wanted to punish her a little bit for being so dumb, apparition or not. "The book said to wait at least one hour before taking it! You're the reader here, not me, so why am I having to tell you this stuff? Your vocabulary is way better than mine!"

She batted him away and punched a shoulder in retribution. "I couldn't wait! I just had to know what happened! Do you have any idea what it's like to have a gap of conscious like that where everyone but you knows just what's going on?"

A brow rose and he gave her a dumb look. "We were both on Tenroujima remember? Of course I know that feeling!" His head shook. "But there's nothing you can do about that when that bad stuff happens. You just have to move on and keep living and looking ahead. It usually works itself out in the end."

She groaned. She didn't need real Natsu quotes right now! "Okay, okay! I already know that I'm an idiot for causing all these problems. What else can you give me that I haven't figured out myself yet?"

"You know if you just sat here and thought about this yourself, I wouldn't have to do so." He ignored her glare and thoughtfully hummed. "Hmm, well I guess you aren't going to be able to call your spirits while you're in this world. You can't draw on magic power while asleep as far as I can get from you. So if you want any more information from Crux...like how you forgot to get it that second time you summoned him...you'll have to wait until you're awake to do so. Since you have to actually call upon them, your dream voice won't reach them here."

It saddened her that she couldn't see her beloved spirits even if she wanted to. "But...what about Loke? He crosses the worlds without me even having to call him."

"I forgot about that. He may have shown up and you wouldn't even know it. But as he's told you, he usually comes when he senses you in danger right? Have you felt like that since this started?"

Her head shook. "No. Virgo usually shows up at the most random times, but I don't remember having seen her lately and I'm sure it's been long enough that one of our contracted days would have passed."

"Well it's not like we're in the middle of battle right now..." He suddenly smiled. "Oh yea. I almost forgot. I may as well call you god...or goddess I suppose...since we're technically inside your head and you make this world to be whatever you want." His smile turned devilish. "I've fought against gods, but I never made out with one before. Yoroshiku ne."

Her face flamed as she went and shoved him off the bed, telling herself to have enough strength to send him to the floor. He fell with a crash and surprised cry. She gave him a smug smile at his annoyed look through her embarrassment.

He stood and stared down at her. "Okay...enough heavy stuff. You still haven't answered my original question, so I'm going to ask it a third time. You'd better answer me cause I don't want to ask again!" He reached out and yanked the comforter off her and pulled her out of the bed. He adjusted to catch her weight and smiled at her. "So...what do you want to do today?"

She looked at him and wondered what amazing adventure they could pull this time. She idly stared at his scarf before actually seeing it. Her lips tipped. "Well, for starters...I want to wear your scarf." In a second, it was around her neck, already wrapped as Natsu always had it. "Then I suppose I should get out of my pajamas so we can head outside." She paused to figure out something she wanted and then she suddenly was out of her pajamas and in the clothes.

He pouted. "Spoilsport. You're getting too good at this. That was no fun for me ya know..."

She ignored him and looked down to admire her new handiwork. It was a cute, knee-length white spring dress. She twirled a little and it flowed around her. Spaghetti straps held it up and showed off a little cleavage. White ribbons wrapped up her forearms and ballerina slippers with matching ribbons laced around her calves to her knees. She beamed and looked at him. "What do you think dream Natsu?"

"I think you should stop calling me dream Natsu." He scowled, but looked at her. "You look very pretty." He blushed a little as a hand came up to toy with the ribbon that was tied over the center of her chest. "I like it."

She smiled at his praise and insisted that they head through the front door like somewhat normal people did. Once outside, the sun was nice and warm through a clear blue sky. It was another beautiful day in dreamland. 'Now...what kind of adventure do I want to make today?'

 _Final_ _outfit_ _inspiration:_ _leons-7. deviantart art / Lucy-Heartfilia-HB-Izami-haru-519945815_


	11. Chapter 11

Her eyes sluggishly peeked open. It was hot. The sound of water hitting stone or something like it glared in her ears. It was too loud. She went to protest it when she felt her arms burdened. What? She weakly shook her head to try and clear it. She felt horrible! She felt weak and unattached to her body. Her head was foggy as was her vision. Oh no...was she starting to go blind from this?

"Erza-san! I think she's waking up!"

"Lucy? Can you hear us?"

She was suddenly face to face with a pair of worried, youthful eyes and blinked. Her mind whirled, trying to figure out what was going on. "Wen...dy?"

Wendy grabbed her arms and smiled. "Yes, it's me Lucy-san! How do you feel?"

She was shifted from behind and suddenly attuned to skin touching hers. She jumped and looked behind her as fast as possible. That wasn't a male chest she was touching...she knew that already...so who was holding her?!

"Don't struggle Lucy. I don't want to drop you in here."

Erza's voice came in low from near her ear. Erza...Erza was holding her from behind and for some reason she felt her skin. "What's...going on?" A hand went to her head, massaging her eyes.

"We were asked to come here and take care of you Lucy-san." Wendy explained, grabbing a washcloth. She went back to her previous duty of scrubbing her friend's arm before she was interrupted.

She became aware of the administrations from her young friend and suddenly realized where she was. They were in her bathroom. It was a huge relief to know that she wasn't going blind; it was just the steam! She sighed and looked around. "How long have you two been here?"

Erza shifted her a bit as Wendy moved on to a leg. "When we arrived you were totally unresponsive. Wendy and I undressed you and managed to get you into the bathroom. We decided to just bathe together since holding onto you would be a lot easier than laying you on the floor."

She looked down to see a pair of slim arms wrapped under her chest. Oh...made sense... She looked to the amount of bubbles and soap everywhere. "How long have I been asleep this time for? What day is it? What time is it?"

Wendy paused, brow furrowed in concern. "It's about eight in the evening Lucy-san. Happy has only been here for one afternoon when you woke up."

She blinked. It felt like she had been asleep for a whole day! Course, when it was always beautiful, afternoon weather in her dream world, that didn't help for her to tell time. She was going to have to make it night one of these trips back. She quickly retracted that thought before the potion reacted and started dragging her back under. She just got back!

By the time she woke up, they had pretty much finished cleaning her up. She felt bad for being a rag doll and making Erza hold onto her the entire time. When she apologized to her friends, they of course denied her the ability to give even a shred of thanks.

She was still conscious when they dried her off and helped her dress. She felt like a total invalid! She knew it was unavoidable that she had to have help since she was immobile for so many hours of the day, but it didn't help her guilt from having to rely on everyone so heavily for so long. One day was fine, two maybe, but almost an entire week? How long had this been going on again?

She chanced a look at herself and was shocked at what she saw. Her face looked haggard despite being asleep so much. There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked thinner in the face. Her brows furrowed in severe worry. The days that she hadn't been able to eat or drink anything were taking a heavy toll on her. She almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror had it not been for her usual hairstyle framing her face!

She looked away, somewhat shaking. She was getting really scared here. This dream really could end up costing her more than just her relationship with Natsu...she could possibly die because of this! She looked to the redhead getting some clothes on and walked to her before she could think. She didn't manage to let Erza get dressed before throwing her arms around her. Natsu wasn't here and Erza was okay to hug. Erza was the strongest woman she had ever known and she needed some of that strength right now.

"Lucy?!"

Her eyes clenched shut, arms tightening around Erza's torso.. "Erza...I'm not going to die because of this am I?"

Erza looked to the top of her head with a small sigh. A hand went and patted her head. "Lucy...have faith that things will be okay. We'll free you from the binds of this spell; I promise you that!"

She pulled away with a nod, wiping her face. "You're right Erza...thanks."

Erza smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're family Lucy. We want to help you. Thanks are unnecessary."

Wendy grabbed one of her hands and squeezed. "That's right Lucy-san! I used my healing power on you when we got here just in case! I'm kind of low right now, but if you want, I can use it again later to help you out. I'll use up my power to heal you any way I can!"

She smiled and squeezed Wendy's hand back. "Thanks Wendy. That means a lot to me." She quickly composed herself with the heartfelt words of her friends and realized that she was again starved. "Um...is there by any chance that Mira-san has more food available that I haven't already eaten?"

The trio headed into the kitchen and fixed some food. She ate more than the others as they reported that they had already eaten. They sat at her dining table and filled her in on the last few days that she had missed at the guild hall. They also reported that Levy was reading pretty much any book that alluded to dreams and the subconscious that they had in the basement library. Freed was helping to go through the bookstore for similar books and to talk to the owner about where they found the book. Master had gone to see Poluchka about a possible cure and had told them to report that he was confiscating her book and if he ever found out she was making any more potions, she would be severely punished.

She felt rightly chastised and only managed a nervous chuckle in response to Erza's blunt report. Laxus had been banished for what he had done and she was seriously inconveniencing for the a lot of the guild and probably keeping them from doing missions just to help her out with this. She really didn't want to make the master of Fairy Tail mad.

When everything was cleaned up and put away, she sat on her bed and looked out at the stars of the night. "I wonder how long it's been since I've actually seen the stars..." She murmured, mostly to herself.

Wendy looked up, hearing every word. Her brow furrowed as her heart went out to her friend. She had not seen Lucy pretty much since their mission to take care of the mole and that was almost a week ago now. If what she said was true, she felt sorry for her friend. This wasn't Lucy's fault and she was suffering because of this! She took in Lucy's thin frame, hunched shoulders, and wondrous face as she looked at the stars and looked away gloomily.

A sudden, shaky breath easily met her ears and Wendy's face whipped over. "Lucy-san?! What's wrong?"

Erza's attention whipped from Wendy's outburst to Lucy. "What's wrong?" The pair stood and hurried to the bed. "Lucy, are you alright?"

She wanted to nod and reassure her precious friends that she was fine. This was nothing out of the ordinary for her now. The dizzy spells, the shift of the world as it was pulled out from under her... But it wasn't something she could ever get used to and when the yank on her vision happened, she gasped at it. A hand had gone over her eyes to block out the light. Dark always helped to take away one sense and it made her feel a little better. Getting really dizzy and losing dinner wasn't going to help her because she needed as much nutrition in her system as she could get!

She pulled the hand away to look at them when the world shifted again. She teetered, thankful she was sitting on soft mattress, and fell over. She felt their hands grab at her arms to steady her, but in vain. Her mouth opened to say something, but words failed her. Their voices were muffled in her ears. "I'll be fine..." She whispered, hoping she was actually speaking. She tried to look at them, but all she could see were a few colorful blurs of red and blue from their hair. "I'm falling back again... I'm sorry..."

The hand that had reached out to them flopped on the bed useless. She had lost full consciousness, but her eyes were open. She stared at nothing. Her breathing was shallow, yet steady.

Wendy turned to her companion and grabbed Erza's arm. "Erza-san! What do we do?!"

Erza had heard of what Lucy experienced from Natsu and Happy. She had been warned that her friend may lose consciousness at any time when she was awake due to the potion, but to see it was quite terrifying. Lucy had fought to stay awake and it was like she fell down a dark hole that they couldn't save her from. Erza's hard eyes stared at the lifeless ones of her friend before a hand went and closed them for her. She stared at the offending hand after doing so...like she had closed Lucy's eyes for the last time.

Her fist clenched, but Erza forced calm. "We make her comfortable. That's all we can do for her right now. Help me get her on the bed properly."

Wendy tearfully nodded and the pair moved to readjust their friend.

Her eyes popped open and she was met with darkness. It wasn't total darkness; she could see the faint shadowy outlines of her room, but it was night. All her lights were off. Which world was this?! She had never experienced nighttime in the dream world yet; did that mean she was awake now? She sat up and took stock of how she felt and noted that she wasn't feeling weak or dizzy and her head was clear. She only felt that way when she was actually awake so this must mean she was in the dream world. She always felt fine here because this illness couldn't reach her. Also, because she didn't want to feel this way, she maintained herself in perfect health in this world.

She got out of bed, deciding to test to see which world she was in for verification. What did she do first? Did she want to change clothes? Turn the lights on? Make the dawn appear? Fly? "Dream Natsu?" She whispered. If he heard her and she wanted him here, he should appear. Nothing. She blinked and looked around. Where was he? He usually popped into her room quite easily! "Are you not showing up because I called you dream Natsu?" He would pull something so childish and hide!

She stuck to her resolve to not drop the extra part of his name and decided to attempt floating in her room. She didn't want to go through the roof though. A second later, she did as mentally requested and realized that she was back in this realm again. She sighed and landed on the floor. She was never going to stay in the real world for long, was she? Just when she got to spend time with Erza and Wendy too! They had been a sight for sore eyes and she was so happy to see them again...even if she did wake up at the most inappropriate time!

She changed to a monochromatic brown turtleneck and skirt combo, deciding that the night should be a little chilly. She donned a pair of black, knee-length boots and finished the ensemble with dream Natsu's scarf. She put her hair up in pigtails to keep it from getting all messed up from the scarf. She smiled and caressed the fabric. She almost expected him to come stomping into the room and demanding it back, but she had a feeling he would pout somewhere until she found him because she took it.

With a slight giggle and shake of her head, she flew toward the window and easily passed through the opening. The night air was as gorgeous as she wanted it and it felt good on her exposed legs. The turtleneck was nice and warm and fluffy and dream Natsu's scarf was really thick and just as warm. She headed to the rooftop of her home to look at the city in its nighttime glory. She had yet to see this world at anything other than a bright sunny day and liked the change.

The wind wasn't blowing and there was a bit of dampness in the air from the nearby river. The streetlights were on and they dotted the land like fireflies from her spot up high. She looked at everything in admiration. She had seen the city plenty of times at night, thus the accurate picture, but it was a totally different view from up high.

Suddenly, she sensed him, but didn't bother looking toward him. "I figured you'd show up sooner or later. Do I just need to wait you out so you come to me instead of me looking for you from now on?"

"You're no fun."

She could hear the pout in his voice and smiled. An arm draped around her shoulder as he stopped next to her. She could feel the heat from his arm leech into her shoulder and it felt good. His fingers idly played with the hair of a pigtail and her eyes drooped from the enjoyment of it all.

"So...night huh? This is a first. You finally got to see some inspiration for it I assume? I'm glad you got to see the stars. Ya know...we should go fly up there and see them better for ourselves."

It sounded like a good idea. "I'm still keeping your scarf." She suddenly blurted out.

He snorted and tugged lightly on the fringe. "I know, I know...I did tell you that you could wear it whether I was with you or not, whenever you want. It still feels weird to be without it though...like I'm naked or something..."

Her face flared. Was he insinuating that she had theoretically stolen his clothes? She elbowed his chest and ignored the surprised cry. Whether he meant that as a jab to her or not, she was still paying him back for that. "Going to the stars sounds like a good idea. I've always wanted to see them up close."

She grabbed his hand and took off, dragging him for a few feet before he easily caught up and they headed up side by side. Dream Magnolia faded away and became just one big light on the horizon. There were smaller dots from nearby towns and cities that she spotted far off that circled the land. It was really beautiful and she stopped to admire it. "How many places do you think we've gone to that we can see from here?" She idly wondered.

He looked in the direction she was seeing and took in the view. "Who cares? Let's go see some stars!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, but continued on. All of the small lights faded away and only the really big metropolises could be seen as one big dot. She bet one of them was Crocus, but it was so tiny and far away. She looked up to space and her excitement grew. She could almost see the edges of the planet and she decided it was close enough.

It was amazing up here! The twinkling lights of uncountable stars spread out before her in more brilliance than if her feet were planted below. She squeezed dream Natsu's hand in her glee and looked to him. "This was a great idea! Look at this! I can't believe it!"

He smiled, heart fluttering to see her so genuinely happy. He was glad to see her content for once. He nodded in agreement and tugged her to keep flying further into space. She agreed, knowing she'd easily find her way back to her speck of an apartment, and the pair left their planet behind. They flew until it disappeared and the only things they could see were stars.

She stopped flying and reached out. Her hands cupped the tiny specks, supposedly millions of miles away, and looked at them in her palms. They glowed with the force of worlds and yet here they were sitting here idly like a pack of fireflies. She quickly showed Natsu who picked one up between his fingers and looked at it in slight amaze. She peered closer and admired the glow and the light it emanated.

He looked at the star and then at her and put it in her hair. Before she could react, he picked a bunch of them up and sprinkled them in her hair. The stars fell like glitter in her locks and he fluffed everything into something resembling a crown. He stopped and admired his handiwork, smiling at how it quite complimented her.

Her now empty hands reached up and gingerly touched what she could barely feel was there. "Well?"

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then flashed his normal, charming smile. "You look much more like a goddess now."

She blushed and smiled back. She left the stars there for another minute before flapping her hands in front of her hair and mentally telling them all to go back to where they came from. She quickly turned to see the stars floating away like dandelion seeds in a light wind. She watched them divert to the black spot of space and take up their original spots far from here.

She stared for a while in silence, then suddenly realized that she could get used to this. Every day she could do whatever she wanted, she could make the world anything that she wanted, and dream Natsu was here to experience this with her. She could act how she wanted to when she was with him and not worry about rejection. He accepted her emotions and returned them here. Neither of them would get hurt if she didn't want them to.

"Please don't cry..." He reached a hand out and wiped away a tear that he noticed. A star got stuck in it and he flicked it away. His hands turned her to face him and touched the cool skin of her cheeks, thumbs slowly moving over her damp skin. "You know how much I don't like to see you cry."

She stared at him, perfectly able to see his face in the depth of space. His eyes were staring at her with so much emotion and such affection that they caused more tears to fall. This really wasn't fair; why did it take such a horrid incident to happen for her to realize how she felt about him? If dream Natsu was telling the truth, then real Natsu felt something for her too and was not wanting to admit it. She leaned her forehead against his, cupping her hands over his with a sigh. Her mouth parted to say something, but she couldn't get it out.

"I know..." He sadly murmured. "I'm not real. No matter how many times I say it, it's still true. I truly wish that the real me would wake up to all that you have to offer me and stop being such an idiot. But you know how clumsy I am with you. I don't know what to do with you. Even when you kissed the real me, I still ran away from you. Potion or no potion..." He sighed and hugged her tightly to him. "From what I've pulled from your memories of my reactions, there IS something there. Please know that you really do mean so much to the real me and don't lose faith."

She dumbly nodded, fisting the back of his shirt tightly. She didn't want to cry and thus no tears would fall from her eyes. They stayed in silence and she sulked against him for what seemed an eternity. A few shooting stars passed in the distance. She would have made a wish on one, but she could make a million shooting stars pop up and make a million wishes and none of them would mean anything. Wishing on a shooting star was special because you couldn't see it all the time.

"It's just not fair..." She finally mumbled. "Every time I try to get close to real Natsu, he pushes me away." She sighed. "That stupid kiss wasn't even a real kiss; it was a mistake. There was no meaning in it; just desperation on my part." She pulled away and looked at him, somewhat depressed. "At least with you, it's different. There is something there. They're all real to me..."

He gently smiled at her and leaned in. He softly kissed her lips for just a second before moving on to the tip of her nose, then both eyes, and finally stopping on her forehead. He left his lips there, smelling her shampoo, before heaving a sigh. "This is all that I can offer in compensation. I know it doesn't mean anything in the end, but I hope you at least accept it."

"I do...and that's what makes it all the more bittersweet." She rested her head on his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat and let it fill her with peace. She looked at the stars in silence. She let her emotions surface and reveled in them. She would never be close enough to the real Natsu to be in his arms like this and be able to touch her ear to his chest and just stay there for however long she wanted. Any time she was held by him in the past was because she was crying horrendously. "I love you dream Natsu."

He flushed a little, but pulled her away and forced her to look at him. He gripped her chin, pinching a little with his index and thumb. "Stop calling me that. Say it like you did that first time...back before you knew this was all a dream." His eyes softened and quickly turned intense from what he referred to.

She was transfixed, seeing the reflection of stars in his eyes. Her heart rate increased as she went dead in his arms. She knew what he wanted, but she was hesitant to comply. She knew what it mean to drop the extra part of his name and while she was sad that this world seemed so much more fun and exciting than the real world, she didn't want to get swept up in here. She couldn't; she would never see real Natsu again. Dream Natsu just wasn't the same.

He frowned when she didn't answer, but he could see the conflict on her face. He became saddened when she looked down and silently dejected him. "Lucy...please...I know you want to say it. I want you to say it too. It's just four simple words..." He gently forced her face to move and she didn't fight him. "Do you want me to go first?" He flushed when her eyes widened and teared. He suddenly felt very awkward. "I was actually hoping to save this...but...I can't wait anymore." His mouth lowered and hovered hers. His lips touched hers and they both trembled. "I...I...love you...Lucy..."

Tears fell from her eyes as she initiated their kiss. She clutched at him as if she would lose him if she let go. His words echoed in her ears and made her so happy. She had wanted to hear it for what seemed an eternity and now she finally had. She kissed him with so much pent-up passion that she eventually had to pull away for air. She gasped, head whirling. He was strong and warm and caring. He was everything she wanted and finally had. He was perfect in all aspects of personality and physique and he was all hers.

She looked into his expectant eyes, feeling his thumbs wipe her tears away. The heat of his hands almost burned into her skin, warming her to her bones. The last straw broke. "I love you too...Natsu..."


	12. Chapter 12

She stood in front of a full-length mirror in her underwear, staring very intently and looking herself up and down repeatedly. The sun was shining and she heard a few birds chirping outside. There were a few voices far away mumbling something that she knew she wouldn't hear...not that she cared about that right now. She had something much more important to figure out!

Arms crossed as she tapped a foot in thought and impatience. She was never going to figure this out! What did she want to make to wear? This was a special time and she wanted the perfect dress on. None of what she already owned from the real world would do it; she was going to make something absolutely beautiful and jaw dropping that Natsu wasn't going to be able to speak!

But that was easier said than done. She had done a lot of looking at clothes when she was awake and those ideas were in her subconscious. She tried to draw on them, but it was kind of difficult with little practice. What color did she want? Did she want to bother with makeup? What about her hair? "Gah! This is so frustrating! It's so much harder when I try to pull this from my imagination!" She finally decided to start with a dress design that complimented her figure and facial design and work from there. The design of the dress would help dictate her hair and that would help with the jewelry. "Yosh!"

She started with the dress she last wore when she was at her old home. She scrutinized it. Did she want something to match her eyes or hair color? Her lips pursed as she played with the color of the design and went through the rainbow. Did she want bold or pastels? She made the dress disappear and looked at her hands. Did she want gloves or sleeves? She wanted to be able to feel Natsu's hands when they held them and suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

Long gloves appeared up to her upper arms. There was a hook that attached to her middle fingers, thus allowing her to have both options: feel Natsu's hands and wear gloves. She planned on having the night a little chilly so she could wear his jacket before things were over. An evil grin formed before her head shook and she focused on the gloves. They were black right now and she suddenly wished she knew what Natsu's favorite color was so she could flatter him. She stared at herself and decided to match her eye color. The gloves changed to a deep crimson and she nodded in satisfaction. It made her skin appear that much more pale and she liked the dichotomy.

She took a step closer and focused on her shoulders. The dress was going to be flowy and to the floor and as she thought it started to appear in black around her waist. She brought the fabric up to her chest and decided on the amount of cleavage she wanted. She really didn't want something with an overly open neck in case Natsu decided to try the same trick again and added a twist. She added a strip of fabric at the cleavage line and brought it up and around her shoulders to tie in the back. She changed the dress color to match her gloves and left her hair in the one-sided ponytail. The ribbon matched the dress.

She stepped back to admire her handiwork. She made mirrors appear in a circle around her as she gripped the dress and twirled. She was really pretty! She wished this would be real because she would add it to her collection and maybe replace it with the other halter that she usually wore to fancy occasions. The amount of skirt made it a much more elegant option.

"Are you done YET?"

She made the mirrors vanish and looked about the room. Of course Natsu wasn't here; she didn't want him to be. She didn't want him to see until she was done with her outfit. She allowed something of his presence to be felt, but not fully known. She grinned at his impatience. "Perfection takes time." She announced, staring at her regular mirror. She gave herself a final once over and winked at herself. "Yes...you can show up now." She announced. "But come through the door!"

There was a pause before the entryway door clicked. "Ah geez...you're so -" The words died in his throat when he stopped as if running into an invisible wall. Lucy was standing across the way and his eyes raked her over. He took in every detail, mouth dropping open and finding his face heating up. He felt frozen in place, unable to raise his arms.

This was exactly what she was hoping for and she smiled. Hands gripped part of the dress to raise it as she took a step toward him. "Well? What do you think?" She twirled for his inspection.

He blinked, taking a few slow steps toward her after she broke his trance. "Y – you're...beautiful..." He breathed. "It looks great!"

She blushed and looked to his normal attire. She thoughtfully hummed. She hadn't seen him in anything other than that vest and white shirt set-up he had been at in a few parties so she would have to see what she could do. He was not going to look like a waiter tonight! "Thanks Natsu... Now let's see what we can do about your clothes."

"I'm fine like this." He waved her off.

"Oh no you're not!" She quickly denied. She decided a basic black suit with matching crimson shirt would do quite nicely. She added a black tie for the final touch and left his scarf off. She knew he wasn't going to like that, but she could get it for him in less time than it took to speak the word. Teeth nibbled her lip as she stared at her handiwork. He was quite gorgeous and her eyes looked him over appreciatively. The color complimented his hair quite well and the suit hid his muscles, yet clung enough to leave some imagination there. She felt a little giddy just taking him all in. "What do you think of my work?"

He tugged at the tie a little to loosen it. "Do I have to wear a tie? And where's my scarf?!"

"Yes, you have to wear a tie." She insisted, taking a few steps forward, eyes rolling. Of course he would complain!

"Why? It's too tight!" He complained, starting to take it off.

She stopped in front of him with a sudden playful look and pulled his hands away from it. He easily let her, eying her face. She looked at him with glint in her eyes as she closed most of the gap between them and slowly tightened the tie back to his neck. She fixed it a bit and then flattened it against his chest with a hand. "That's why..." She murmured, looking at him with lowered lids.

He harshly swallowed, already red. "I...see..." She was even more beautiful this close. She really was his goddess fleshed out. The red brought out the dark brown of her eyes and made her skin seem like porcelain. The flare of the skirt made her waist seem so tiny, like he could fully wrap his hands around the entire thing and touch his fingers together. His fingers itched to do just that and he forcibly stopped himself. He awkwardly cleared his throat.

Her hands went to the buttons on his jacket and slowly closed them. "Don't worry about your scarf. I swear to you that it's safe. See? It'll just stay on the table for now."

He looked over in the fog that was his brain to see it neatly folded in the center. He looked back when she rested both palms on the lapels.

"And don't untuck your shirt..."

"Uh huh..." He dumbly nodded, still unable to look away from her. So many things he wanted to do to her and he couldn't decide first. Kiss her? Hug her? Touch her shoulders with his hands...his mouth? Just take her hand? He compromised and took one of her hands in his and kissed the back of it. "Whatever you say my goddess."

She went beet red, a silly smile popping up. She felt all giddy when he headed to the doorway and extended a hand for her to take. She took it, feeling how hot it was and how strong. She took in how much smaller her hand was in his and felt comforted. "So you decided for us to go out the door like normal huh?" She quipped, free hand raising her skirt so she didn't trip. Not that she would though.

He shrugged and let her pass before closing the door. They walked down the stairs and out the main door. The day had become night as they left her room, but she didn't make it as chilly as she planned. "Are we walking the whole way?"

"We can start and figure it out on the way. It's not like my feet are going to get tired or we're going to be late."

He kept her hand in his and started moving. "I still say we fly there."

"But I prefer to walk holding hands with you. I haven't gotten to do so yet."

He looked her way and grinned. How could he resist a request like that? Also, he took it as a challenge to give her a memory that his real self had never offered. They said nothing more and headed down the street they had walked a million times before. The streetlights were all lit up and there was slight chatter around. She had decided it was to be a festival night tonight just because she felt like having a dance with Natsu. A dance wasn't complete without a party to go with it and she wanted everyone in this world to enjoy themselves as much as she knew she would.

They got maybe halfway there, looking around and enjoying each other's company when he finally couldn't take it anymore. "Why does it feel like we're never going to get there?" He whined.

She huffed and squeezed his hand. "I WAS enjoying myself you know... But if you insist..." The next step they took transported them right in front of the stone guild hall that they had gotten back after the Grand Magic Games. It seemed like forever since she had set foot in the grand hall and she was looking forward to it.

The place was decorated as it had been in her memories. Streamers and lights were all over the place and beautiful decorations were all over the tables. The stage was busy with music and she had Gajeel on to let him have his fun. She stopped to admire it all. It seemed so surreal to be here like this...holding Natsu's hand and standing in the doorway all decked out in the best clothing she could think of so far.

She felt somewhat apart of the group, which was only normal. No one in the guild hall aside from her and Natsu knew what was going on. She merely picked them out of her memories and let them do as the past had dictated...although she planned on it that no one would invade and no drunken brawls would break out like usually happened. She wanted to spend the evening from start to finish with Natsu.

She suddenly looked to him and gave his hand a squeeze to get his attention. "No fighting with Gray and don't go challenging anyone else tonight okay?"

"Spoilsport."

"I kind of want this to be a boring, simple, romantic night for the two of us."

"Then why is everybody else here?"

Her mouth opened to rebuke him when it snapped shut. She really couldn't answer as she had wanted to. 'Because I wanted to be with you and them...' She wanted to say it.

"Because I know you must miss them as much as I do." She lamely sidetracked, pulling him into the room. She weaved around people and felt like coming home as she took in faces of her beloved guild friends. She was true in her words whether they were thought or spoken to him. She did miss everyone; Magnolia wasn't the same without Fairy Tail around. She had quite forgotten that fact after spending so much time with Natsu and having so many amazing adventures. The ability to do and create whatever she wanted had given her a head rush and she shamefully admitted to herself in this instance that it had quite gone to her head the last few days.

Thus she suddenly resolved to have as much fun as she could with this dream group and eventually watched a scuffle between Natsu and Gray. She had to admit, she had a lot of fun watching him go at it and throw challenging words at his magic counterpart. She rooted for him and didn't care if his suit got messed up because she fixed it when he was finally thrown into a wall from Erza.

She chatted with as many people as possible and fully enjoyed every second of it. She realized that she wanted more days like this and thus intended on having regular get-togethers at the guild whenever she felt left out of the city.

They had laughed, Natsu had fought with his friends, they had talked to many of the guild, and they had eaten a lot of the spread in the main hall. The only thing they hadn't done yet was what she had really wanted to do with him: dance together. What did she want to hear though? She wanted a slow song and something romantic. She tried to remember anything she had heard.

The sound of piano suddenly floated through the room. A male singer hummed the intro. She remembered this song! It had been forever since she heard it though and felt almost forgotten; it must have been in her subconscious.

 _I will, be as one, I want to protect you_

 _Stay with me, I love you, Yes you, My beloved person_

She hurried to Natsu and grabbed his hand. She didn't let him ask questions or explain herself as she dragged him to the area in front of the stage. She turned around and grabbed one of his hands to rest of her hip and clasped the other. Her free hand held the dress up. She had always wanted to dance with him, but most of the time he had pretty much preferred the male aspect of the party: ruckus.

He looked down into her smiling face, feeling uncomfortable at having to dance, even though it was with Lucy. But he caved when he looked at how the smile reached her eyes and smiled back at her. He knew she wanted to do this with his real self and had never been given the chance because of his gruff personality. Thus, he gave her what she really desired because he wanted to make her happy. She was shining and graceful and his heart swelled.

He really didn't know how to dance, but pulling from her memories and her ability to dance from her childhood made it easier to be a proper partner. He took in the information as if merely learning a new fire spell and it became natural in a heartbeat. They moved in time to the song. He had never heard it before, but the lyrics were nice and of course she would make it so they would fit the mood here. He actually liked the song.

 _Now, be as one, I want to try believing_

 _That there is such a thing as everlasting love_

"Are you happy Lucy?"

She practically beamed at him. "I've wanted to do this with you for so many parties that usually get interrupted or you're nowhere to be seen."

"I know." He looked contrite. "Sorry about that."

Her head shook. "It's okay because you're here with me now and you're giving me this chance. Thank you Natsu! You have no idea how much this means to me."

He smiled. "Oh, but I do."

In a second the slow song was replaced with a piano intro and a guitar. The music picked up tempo, mirroring her happiness, and she grasped both his hands and pulled their arms taught as she swung backward. She went under his hands as she twirled under his arms, feeling amazing.

 _I've been searching for the evidence of my existence in this place._

 _Finally, I realized that it's been inside my right pocket all along._

The female voice floated through the crowd, invading her ears and bringing her to such simple, pure happiness as she danced with Natsu. She felt so alive and despite seeing all of her friends, around dancing as well, they didn't matter as much as Natsu did in this second. He was the perfect guy in the world and she just wanted to give him the tightest hug in the world and shout to the entire guild how much she loved him. She let her happiness reside in her smile and her eyes as they danced to the fast beat, wearing the most fancy clothes she had created. The night was perfect, just the way she wanted.

When the guitar finished and the final piano cords played out, he twirled her one last time and then brought her close to his arms. He wrapped one arm around her waist and dipped her. His heart was beating from the excitement she produced and his usual smile was there the whole dance. She had made him feel like this and his ears drunk her laughter. They were both breathing heavily when he brought her toward him with a kiss.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, though she wasn't in any danger of falling. She floated there for a second and kissed him, feeling his hair in her fingers. She pulled away to catch her breath. "I don't think I've ever been as happy as you've made me tonight. I didn't know such a thing was even possible. Thank you..."

He pulled them to stand as another random, nameless song started playing. His arms went around her waist as he tugged her to his chest. He stared into her eyes and took a hand, weaving his fingers through hers. They swayed to the female voice, not even paying attention. "I'm glad that you could finally feel some true happiness for once. You deserve it after everything you've been through."

He wasn't just referring to the potion incident and she knew it. He meant the times she had been abused during the Games, kidnapped for some devious plot, the horrible history with her father as a child, the death of both parents, and being trapped on Tenroujima for seven years. His hand squeezed hers, forehead coming forward to rest against hers. "I'm going to be horrible for saying this, but...this potion has been the best thing that has ever happened to you."

That was horrible knowing how it had affected her life in the real world. She had made people suffer and she had burdened so many in order to help her out during her time asleep. Despite knowing all that, it seemed so far away from this moment staring up into Natsu's beautiful eyes, his soft smile, his warm hands, and the strong chest she was leaned against.

Did all that really happen? She was confused as to how long ago that whole potion issue transpired. All she could see was the beauty of Natsu, hear the gorgeous piano music and female singer, and feel surrounded by her friends. She had everything she ever wanted and needed and didn't ever want it to change. He was here, he was holding her so close, he was warm, and best of all: he loved her back.

"I love you Natsu." She breathed, eyes tearing.

He smiled and gently kissed her. "I love you too Lucy. I always have. I always will. Just...stay with me will you? Stay with me here. Let me have all of these fun times with you. All the adventures, all the magic...let's do some more, okay? Let's break the end of this universe and do something truly amazing to this world." His brow furrowed upward. "Will you stay with me? Please say yes. I'm always so bored when you leave me here by myself." His and squeezed hers and he pressed her a little closer to his chest. "Say yes..." He practically pleaded.

His eyes were intoxicating. His smile was infectious. He was absolutely perfect...she couldn't think that enough. She loved him so much for so many reasons. She didn't want to be away from him either. She wanted to do so many silly, romantic, heart-stopping adventures with him. She barely felt herself nod and a split second later she was clutched at as his arms went around her as tightly as possible. "Yes..." She whispered, resting her head against his. She nodded again, arms going around him just as tightly. "Yes Natsu. I couldn't bear to be without you too. Yes, I'll stay here with you."

 _Lucy's dress inspiration: leons-7. / art/ LUCY-HEARTFILIA-FT-484172591_

 _Dance songs in order: Be as One, Evidence, and Kimi ga Kureta Mono from FT series_


	13. Chapter 13

It had been a very clueless, difficult, and exhausting road. There was little information concerning Lucy's book in the guild library or a similarity in the topic. Levy had found only a few pieces of information that may aid them in knowing what was going on in Lucy's head, but nothing concerning a cure. Poluchka said that she could make something to try and help, but she didn't know where to start and the best answers would be found by talking to the writer...given that he or she was still alive.

Freed managed to find out the town that the book had been bought from and had set out immediately after reporting the location to the guild. Natsu wanted to go himself, but everyone kept him from leaving, saying that they needed to be dignified and not shake answers out of the poor person. He felt like he was the only one not doing anything here and wanted to go with Freed. Even though it meant taking the train to the next village, he was willing to sacrifice for Lucy if he could talk to that accursed writer!

The only rest he actually got was when he fully passed out either in the main hall or his house. He had vowed not to rest until he found a cure for Lucy and he wanted to keep that promise, but his body had other ideas. In the last week since the initial potion had been taken, he had probably slept two-thirds of those times and after having distanced himself from his poor partner, he was getting less and less hours in. Worry and guilt ate at him and kept him up. His mind wouldn't let him rest and he truly lost the battle against sleep many a time when he sincerely tried to remain conscious.

He looked a wreck and he felt it too. Even when Erza had knocked him out a few times so he would sleep and Wendy had tried healing magic to pick him back up, he was still all turned around. He hadn't processed any of Lucy's feelings toward him since he was too preoccupied with getting her back to normal. He almost purposely avoided doing so because now was not the time for it. Now was the time to get the guild back to its usual state after the Games. They had just found their foothold after so long and it had been, yet again, cruelly yanked out from under them!

The one time he was at his house after sending Happy to watch over Lucy, the quiet that followed his friend's leave was deafening in a bad way. All he could think about was Lucy and that dream he watched her have. She had been more intense than their time in that hotel in Crocus and it had replaced what invaded his mind whenever he thought of her in that way. He still didn't know what he was going to do with her after having known all this! The sounds she made, the smell that emanated from her, the way she said his name made him question every memory he ever had with her.

He quite clearly heard those words of love and it shocked him to hear them attached to his name. He had no idea! She had always been his friend and his mission partner and he had never bothered to think any other way. She had always just been his friend and great person, totally forgiving and gentle. She was sometimes stubborn, a total knock-out, friendly, thoughtful, and really brave when she wanted to be. She worried about the spirits she commanded and had tried to think of them as equal to herself.

He was happy he had met her by total accident and asked her to be his team for missions. He was proud to see her celestial magic grow as she gathered more keys and expanded her magic to be able to call upon multiples at once. The adventures and missions they had over the months were fun, terrifying, and awesome. She was much weaker than him due to the nature of her magic, but her spirit burned just as hot as his magic did when she decided not to give up.

Thinking of her and how amazing she was as a person only made him confused and his head muddled. His heart skipped a beat a few times when he contemplated the person named Lucy and what she really meant to him. She was his best friend and he was proud to call her that, but lately it felt empty to just leave it at that. He admitted that she meant so much to him, but to what extent he had never bothered to think about.

Spending time in his house like this didn't bring any resolve or answers and thus he stayed away from his empty house for now. Delving into such a topic at this time, in a period of crisis, was not going to get him anywhere and thus he purposely ignored it. He stayed at the guild for the rest of the time.

It was painful to sit around and wait while Freed was gone, but when he was back, everything sprung into action. Freed's biggest triumph was producing a few pieces of hand-written papers from the writer with not only clues to what was going on with Lucy while she was sleeping, but all the list of side effects, along with a counter spell to bring her back amongst the living and how to make it. He snatched it up before anyone else could do much more with it and used Happy's max speed to get him to Poluchka.

Barging in as he did was understandable, as was the initial beating Poluchka gave him for scaring the daylights out of her. He waved the paper in her face and was ordered outside while she made it and wrote him some directions. He paced around in the dirt for what seemed forever, feeling better than he had in ages. His mind was whirling and he was excited to get a real conclusion to all this which had afflicted them so heavily in such a short amount of time.

He had read the pages and was seriously concerned with what was written. The book was actually for expanding ones consciousness and it was really a piece of lost magic that the writer had experimented with a long time ago. It was a means of having full control over the dream world in order to go into other people's dreams...eventually creating something of an astral body with which to transcend the conscious mind. The potion wasn't really meant to be used more than a handful of times in the person's entire lifespan! Considering that Lucy had used it three times in less than two days, she had quite traumatized herself!

The first potion was actually to open the doorway and let the user walk through in order to practice for a while. It was dense and the effects of it took a long time to wear off. This was so the user could get familiar with taking charge of their dreams and utilize that subconscious knowledge in order to bring it into the real world. The user was supposed to spend a while getting familiar with switching between the subconscious and the conscious minds, not a week! Lucy had pretty much created a speeding train that was going wild toward the brink of her subconscious and there was no way to stop it because she didn't understand the whole thing!

While that kind of magic sounded very interesting, the side effects had him worried enough to break his words of staying separated from her and go check on her personally. Even when he sent Wendy and Erza to keep watch on her, he still didn't think anyone else could be properly capable of tending her needs.

His jaw clenched and his heart twisted. The idiot! She was quickly going comatose because she didn't wait the full hour and those last eight minutes made an unwanted, unforeseen chain reaction. The potion was still brewing when she took it and she didn't let it finish! It was stronger the longer it sat out and since she didn't wait, she took a weaker version and didn't get the proper effect. Because of that, she took more before the first even had a chance to get set up in her body because she didn't know what she was doing! The ones he found that had been sitting out on the dining room table for who knew how long were so strong that they were emitting smoke as a different way to take the potion.

He had worried that he would be effected since his nose was stronger than most, but apparently ingestion truly was the way to go and since he hadn't passed out by now, he didn't breathe in enough to do anything to him. From what was surmised to him by Poluchka, if the potion had to be strong enough to create smoke and thus be inhaled, he would probably have had to sit really close to it in seriously confined quarters until he felt the effects immediately and over a period of time. He was relieved because he didn't want such a power and he didn't want to deal with such magic. Lucy was having a hard enough time with this which told him that it wasn't for anyone to touch. Lost magic was lost for a reason!

The side effects were primarily dizziness, clouded mind, and confusion from skipping in between worlds. More serious problems were blending of the real world and the dream world if one wasn't trained and had proper practice; eventual coma as one got stuck in the dream world; and if prolonged sleep occurred, the body would debilitate and possible death could occur. The user needed help of a trained expert in the art in order to be pulled back so they could take care of the physical body and thus be saved from death.

The door finally opened and he whirled to it, hurrying over. He grabbed a glass container that Poluchka held out along with the instructions she had written for him as decrypted in the pages. She also had wrapped up the initial message and tied it together for safekeeping. He barely stayed to give his thanks, let alone get all the information in his head before he called for Happy. He had Happy do max speed again until they got to the bottom of her apartment building and then instructed his friend to go find Wendy just in case things turned bad. He had a feeling having a healer nearby would be a good thing during the application process and he watched his friend disappear in a blink with max speed.

He grimly stared at the window on the second floor. Her windows were closed and he easily hopped up to the edge. It wasn't locked and he peered in finding the lights were off. He carefully opened the window, trying not to fall or drop the precious cure, and poked his head inside. All was quiet and still. No one had been to visit Lucy since hearing that Freed had come back. No one knew what was going to happen and everyone wanted to be available to help where necessary, but this meant that she had been by herself for hours already.

He hurried in and closed the pane. She was under the covers, eyes closed, a small smile on her face. He suddenly felt like she was going to wake up and smack him for busting in like this, then shook his head with the realization that she had been asleep for the entire day...possibly more. He knew that once Wendy got here, she would come in through the door and thus cracked it a bit so she knew to enter. That done, he grabbed a dining chair and pulled it to the head of the bed and plopped down in it. He quickly dumped all the items on the dining table for them to be out of the way for now.

His heart twisted again as he observed her face in the afternoon light. She had visibly lost weight and her cheekbones were more prominent than they had been before he separated them. Yet, she looked peaceful with that barest trace of smile on her face. He noted the hands clasped over her stomach and for a second, she looked dead.

He harshly swore at himself for thinking such a horrible thing. No! He wasn't too late! He could still see the small movement of the comforter as it moved up and down with her breathing. He could hear her breaths in his ears and the slow beat of her heart. But his worry was justified in that her heart wasn't beating that often. He took a minute and counted only three dozen and didn't like that number. He didn't know anything about the heart or during sleep, but it just seemed to beat like it was slowly giving up...

He shook his head hard enough to hurt his neck and forced himself to stop thinking such things! He berated such thoughts now that things were going to get better. He had the instructions on how to apply the cure and the concoction was in the canister mere inches away from him! They had found what he promised to do; they had found her a cure and Lucy would get better from this. He put all his hope into it and so believed in it.

He suddenly smelled tears and watch one form in the corner of her eye. He leaned forward eagerly, wondering, hoping, that she was returning. "Lucy?! Lucy...are you awake? Hey!"

Her mouth parted the barest of degrees. Her lips formed words in the barest of whispers that even he had to lean forward to hear. "Happy...tonight...Thank you..."

His eyes raked over her face. "Lucy...hey! Get a grip on yourself! Stay with me here! I'm really here with you now! You have to come back; we're all waiting for you! I have the cure to help you get better and I'm going to apply it right now...just hold on!"

He went to pull back when her lips moved again. "Love you Natsu..."

His jaw clenched, brow furrowing. He wanted to pull her into his arms and squeeze her. Those words weren't for him, yet they were, and he felt at such a loss as what to do. They were for some dream Natsu she was with in her subconscious that were probably meant for the real him. Because he pushed her away like he had that last time, she had done this to herself and gone on to interact with some fake image of him in her dreams where she got to say all of these words to him.

He leaned over her heavily, trying to draw on some sense of strength. He couldn't stop shaking at the adrenaline that hit him. "Lucy..." He raised a trembling hand to her face, feeling her cheek cold. "Stay with me here...don't go! Don't leave me here...don't die on me again! Come back to me...to the real me!" His eyes squeezed shut before his tears could fall.

"Yes..."

His eyes shot open, wondering if he had reached her. He remained leaning over her bed, arms positioned on either side of her, intently studying her face a mere foot away with wide eyes. Her smile widened a little.

"Stay...here...with you..."

The rest of the breath she used to speak those words practically hissed out of her. It trailed off into nothingness and then was silent. His breathing halted as he waited for her to say something else. His eyes darted across her face and her open mouth. His ears picked up the sounds from outside...and that was it. His mind suddenly broke as a thought struck him. His trembling hand went to her shoulder and gave it a small shake and one of his tears broke free and struck her on the cheek. "H – hey...hey Lucy..." He shook her a little harder when she didn't respond. His ears didn't pick up her breathing, as soft as it was before and as close as he was now. He strained to hear her heart, but it didn't beat.

He stared at her smile and closed eyes, suddenly recalling a different time of a different Lucy that closed her eyes with a smile on her face. The future Lucy that had died in front of him...struck down by the future Rogue...

The last straw on his sanity and emotions broke. He grabbed her shoulders with both hands, clutching them as if she would float away, and shook her hard. "Lucy! LUCY! NO! Don't go! Don't go away again! Damn it!" He let go of her, watching her face flop onto the pillow, a few strands of hair covering her face. The smile left her face, but her mouth was still open.

He was shaking and he was utterly panicked. He stumbled back a step, fearful eyes still on her face, racking his brain as how to help. His breathing was choppy and he feared he was going to start hyperventilating. 'Keep calm! Think! What do I do?!' Wendy wasn't here yet. He didn't know how many minutes it'd been since Happy flew off, but he knew that Happy had to have reached the guild hall by now and hopefully found Wendy. He just knew that Wendy and Charle were on their way over, but they weren't here right now and that mattered the most! He was of no help here in a situation like this. His magic was fire, something made for destruction, not to heal someone.

He clutched Lucy's shoulders again, watching her shake with the force of his fear. "Breathe Lucy! Come on! Help me out here!" Breathe...Lucy had to breathe...her heart wasn't beating...she needed him to breathe and beat her heart for her! He yanked off the comforter and threw it so hard it landed on the other side of the room against the bookshelf. She laid there in pajamas that seemed much too big for her now. "I'll help you out Lucy... I'm going to bring you back to me whether you like it or not! You're not dying on me and you're not going away forever into some stupid dream! I refuse to let you just do whatever you want and forget about all of us! You don't get to do as you please with some stupid fake me!"

He braced himself with a leg next to her waist as he leaned down and clamped his mouth over hers. He breathed into her, hoping against everything that he was doing this right. He breathed again and again before leaning away. His hands interlocked over her chest and pushed. He worried he would hurt her beyond repair, but cast that thought aside. He would worry about getting her back here first and figure out the consequences later!

He was in the middle of his hell when the door suddenly swung open. He barely heard the gasp and the patter of feet as they came up to him. He heard his name called out and finished the breath before pulling away. He turned all his hope and agony to his friend, grabbing Wendy's hand. "Wendy! Lucy's not breathing! Her heart isn't beating! You have to help me here!"

Wendy quickly went to work and called forth as much magic as possible and poured it into her friend. She situated herself out of the way as Natsu kept up his breathing and pushing on Lucy's chest. She concentrated as hard as possible, trying to will her friend back to life. There was no way to know how long it had been since the stop of her heart, but with some luck and fate on their side, they would succeed.

He stopped pushing on her chest and went to breathe into her again when she gasped and started coughing. Never had he heard a more glorious sound! The worry slid off him to be replaced with relief and he grabbed a hand as she squirmed. He could barely control his shaking and he told himself it was okay now and to calm down. Wendy was still applying magic to her. "Lucy!? Lucy...can you hear me? Say something please!"

The sound of the music was gone. The party was gone. The guild members were gone. Natsu in all his handsome, charming glory was gone. Darkness met her and pain...lots of pain. Grogginess and confusion. Her head hurt. Her chest was on fire as her heart beat with agony. Each pulse hurt to do so, like it hadn't been used in a while and was out of practice. She slowly moved her arms, finding them horribly labored and weak. What was going on?

He smiled and nodded, feeling encouraged at her attempt to move. He couldn't help the tears that streamed down his face, not even noticing them. He sat on the edge of her bed, attentive to anything that she asked of him. He took one of her hands in his and found it cold. He covered it with his other and warmed his palms to bring her temperature up. "Lucy...it's me. It's Natsu. Wendy is here too. You're in your bed in your apartment. You're finally awake. You took a potion that caused you to fall asleep, but you're going to be okay now. We got a cure for you, just like I said we would!"

"N...Natsu..." She looked to him, eyes clouded over. Her free hand rose laboriously to his face. "Why...do I...feel...so weak?"

"You've been asleep for most of a week. You haven't used your muscles."

She connected with warm skin. Her fingers trembled as she caressed his face. "I don't...understand... I haven't...been asleep... We were just dancing... You and I... We were...at the guild...having fun..."

He refused to let despair weigh him down. His head shook. "You were asleep. It was just a dream. You're finally awake in the real world. I'M real."

She tried to get her vision to clear, but it was hard. She felt like a rag doll and she hated it! She had been on the top of the world mere seconds ago and she had crashed into something that she was ready to reject. This was like floating up to heaven only to have her wings broken and plummet down to hell. "It hurts... Why...does it hurt...so bad? This...is wrong... I was...so happy...seconds ago..."

She sounded severely disappointed at having woken up. His worry increased as he tried to get her to come to. "Lucy, I have the cure for you. I'm going to give it to you and you're going to get better. I promise you'll get better."

"I want...to feel better...now..." She blinked when her words went ignored. Why wasn't she healthy the second she wished it? "What? Why...do I still...hurt?"

He had to get through to her. He almost physically restrained himself from shaking her again. "You're AWAKE Lucy! It's me...it's really Natsu!"

"Lucy-san?"

The new voice shook her a little bit. She pulled out of the fog a little more and looked in its direction. "Who?"

"She's really doing bad isn't she? Get a grip on yourself!"

She looked to the other new voice, not remembering from where she heard it. Oh... "Charle?"

Charle took a few paces up the bed. "I'm right here Lucy. You were afflicted with lost magic from that book you bought. We're here to help you. Can you sit up?"

She did as the new voice asked and pushed herself up a bit. It was easier than she thought with a pair of strong, warm hands help her up. "Natsu..." She whispered, mostly to herself.

His ears perked up when he heard his name. He eagerly nodded. "That's right Lucy. It's Natsu. I'm right next to you." He helped her sit up, helping her weak head with his arm. "We've got the cure right here. We're going to help you get better."

Her hands reached out to him. She put one on the arm over her upper torso and the other inched toward his face. Her weak, cold fingers found his cheek with difficulty. She looked to him with a weak smile. "There you are...Natsu... I thought...you left me...for a second... I thought that...you wanted me...to stay with you?"

She was looking at him with such love and affection that he was taken aback from the sheer force of it. He felt the softness of her cold fingers weakly caress his cheek through his shock. He blushed, but he suddenly knew with a heavy heart that this wasn't truly for him. It was for her dream world...where she thought she was right now. Where it sounded like she actually wanted to be.

This was bad. She had been asleep too long and didn't know which world she was in right now. She thought the dream world was the normal place and the real world was the apparition. He feared what would have happened if they were even a day later in getting the cure. He berated himself for not staying near her and having left her like he did. She had done worse than he thought and he was wrong to leave her side. He should have been there for her, asleep or not...even if it cost him his sanity!

He looked to Wendy. "I've got the cure and I know what to do with it. Go back to the guild and tell everyone what happened. Have master talk to Poluchka about how we keep this from happening again."

Wendy nodded and Charle hopped off the bed, announcing that they'd be back later to check on how things were going. The pair headed out without another word and closed the door behind them. Silence descended in the room after they left.


	14. Chapter 14

In all reality, he wanted to be alone with Lucy. If he was going to make her see reason, there were some things he probably needed to say and / or do and he didn't think he'd have the courage to say them if anyone else were here...even if it was Wendy.

He looked back at Lucy, seeing her come to a little more. He propped up a pillow and gently laid her back against it. "Wait a second Lucy. I've got the cure on your table. I'm going to get it right now." He leaned back long enough to grab the instructions and the canister. He read everything over and stared at the diagram before popping the lid off. He looked to her. "You trust me, right Lucy?"

She smiled his way, eyes still full of love. "I more than trust you Natsu...I love you. I already told you this."

He harshly swallowed, dumbly nodding. "Uh..." The words flew from his mind and he faltered for a second. "Yea... Okay." He put the canister on a safe spot on the mattress and reached forward hesitant hands. "Then I need you to not move, okay?"

The second warm hands went to her chest, she froze. It finally registered when the second button to her pajama top came off what he was doing. Her hands went to his, trying to bat them away. "No! Natsu...you said you wouldn't...until I was ready. You wouldn't...try this again."

His face flamed as he paused. His body froze in the sheer shock of just what she was insinuating. "W – what...what went on in your head you idiot?!" He sputtered. He batted her hands away as they tried to button her back up. "The cure needs to be applied over the heart down to the end of the rib cage. You have to have your shirt open for that!"

"I don't really know...what you're talking about. What cure? Am I ill?"

He tried to keep his patience and not yell at her. "Yes! You're very ill Lucy. I'm here to help you. I need to put this cure on you and it's going to take the sickness out of your body. Okay? Do you understand? Nod your head for me if you do." He waited till she did so before he continued. "Good. I need you to hold still and not touch anything. Just lay there, okay? This is going to help you. I promise I won't do anything weird."

"Okay... I trust you, Natsu."

Teeth bit his lip for a second. She really meant those words and he hoped he didn't regret his. He honestly didn't know what the cure was going to do other than he knew it would get her (somewhat) back to normal. He decided on the initial, safer approach and brushed her bangs back. He needed access to her forehead for this too and he wanted to start off safe. She turned her head to his touch as he slowly parted her hair, giving a quiet hum of appreciation. His heart fluttered for just a second and then he was done.

"Okay...I promise this isn't going to be perverted. Some of the cure has to go over your heart okay? I'm not going to do anything bad, alright?" He waited till she nodded. He swallowed, suddenly wondering if he could actually do this part. His heart beat picked up about tenfold. The blood rushed in his ears and he told himself to stop being so stupid. This was why he didn't want to think about her like this: it wasn't helping anything right now!

He took a deep breath and again reached forward shaking fingers. He tried to pull the top up so he didn't actually touch anything as he worked. The first two buttons were still undone and he did the next till she practically fell out of the top. He left it buttoned at her stomach so she wouldn't be fully indecent. He tried to move the fabric aside and not show her chest, but that was proving more difficult than it sounded. He had no experience with this and he was shaking so much that it took him much longer to get her shirt where he wanted it.

He noticed she was watching him the whole time, shaking a little herself for what she could manage. Her eyes were clouded over with emotion, mouth parted just a little. He lost his will when he looked at her. His whole being froze down to the core and he forgot everything that he intended to do. His mouth went dry, his face flamed, and he swore sweat broke out on his forehead. His hands still hovered over her chest, totally forgotten dead weight. When she finally blinked, he snapped to and snatched his hands back. He mentally shook himself and again told himself to focus.

He grabbed the instructions, having totally lost every shred of information for what just happened, and grabbed the diagram. He dipped his thumb into the canister and out came a glob of what looked like brown mud. He swiped it across her forehead, just over her brows. Then he crossed the horizontal line with a vertical one from high on her forehead down to the top of her nose. This was to access the energy point in the forehead that dealt with perception beyond ordinary insight.

Knowing he wasn't supposed to backtrack his lines, his thumb went into the canister again and dipped twice, once for each jugular vein in her neck. He went from the tip of her jaw down to where her collarbone was. The jugular was supposed to be major veins that took dead blood out of the head. Putting the medicine over these would help draw out the potion from the head before it reached the heart and further poison her there.

He took his unused hand and positioned her wrists facing up next to her legs on the bed. "I need you to not move these...no matter what, okay?" She silently nodded again and he continued. Another line on both each wrist went from the lowest part of the palm all the way to her inner elbow. These lines were to mimic the arteries that moved blood around to those extremities and draw magic from there as well.

The last part was the most challenging. It wasn't like he saved it for last on purpose; he would rather have gotten it done and over with first. The fact that he prepped her and ended up leaving her chest open the entire time wasn't lost on his eyes. He almost couldn't pay attention on what needed to be done as they kept driving to her cleavage. She of course seemed to notice this given that she was watching him the entire time and smiled knowingly.

His thumb slowly dipped in the medicine and inched forward. He watched it move to her neck, barely feeling in control. He gingerly pressed down just under the hollow of her collarbone and slowly traced a straight line down to the bottom part of her ribcage. He stopped when he felt her sternum end and removed his thumb. Dipping one final time in the container, he traced a horizontal line directly over her heart, crossing her cleavage just a tad. His teeth grit as he watched his thumb rise and fall across the peaks of her chest. The first peak he crossed, he almost stopped himself. If he didn't wish to make up for his mistakes, he would've had Wendy do this!

He nodded and looked to the paper. There were a few words on there to activate the diagram and he looked to them, mentally crossing his fingers. He exhaled a shaky breath. "To you who opened the subconscious and live in the dream world...return to the world in which you were rightfully born." He looked to her and waited.

She stared at him in confusion and blinked. "What are you talking about? I was already where I belonged... Why did you -" All of a sudden, black smoke started rising from the diagram drawn on her body. It came out a slow tendril as it started the process. Her eyes widened, adrenaline shooting through her. The smoke puffed out in reaction and more smoke wafted out. "WHAT - what's going on!? What did you do to me?!"

He leaned forward, trying to be reassuring. "I'm helping you Lucy. I'm curing you from the potion that you drank. You've been asleep for most of a week now! Everything you saw and did was a lie; it didn't really happen!"

Her eyes darted from her chest to her wrists to her neck. Her breathing and heart rate picked up in panic. "I don't know what you're talking about! I wasn't asleep! You and I were just at the guild party! We had plans to explore to the ends of the universe and have adventures whenever and wherever we wanted! Why are you doing this?! What is this?"

He grasped the edges of her fingers, feeling her hands latch onto him with a strength he didn't know she possessed. A puff of smoke came out from that arm in reaction to her moving. "It's okay Lucy. I'm here with you. I'm not going to let go of your hand. Listen to my voice Lucy. Concentrate on me here. Take some deep breaths!"

The puffs of smoke kept going in time with her erratic breathing and heartbeat. Tears lined her eyes. "This isn't real...this isn't happening! I don't want it to be happening so it shouldn't be happening right? You told me that it's a dream so I could do whatever I wanted! I'm your goddess! I made this world to be whatever I wanted and I could change it as I wanted! Why isn't this stopping?!"

She was turning hysterical and he wanted to take her in his arms, but he couldn't touch her or the spell would be ruined and he knew she wouldn't let him reapply it. His fingers squeezed hers in the only way he could give her any physical comfort. "That was all a lie Lucy! That really was a dream! I would never tell you that you could make the world as you wanted! You're a part of the world, not the one who makes it. You're not a goddess of anything except the fate of your own life. You can't control others; that's wrong!"

"You're not real! I want to wake up!" All of a sudden a sudden jab of pain came from every connection point from the diagram. "Augh!" Her head arched back, banging on the headboard as it hit every sensitive part of her body. "It hurts! It hurts Natsu! Why would you hurt me?! This isn't like you! What are you doing?"

He jumped as she cried out again, practically writhing in her spot. He grabbed her upper arms to keep them from moving and damaging the reverse spell. He wracked his brain as he helplessly watched the tears stream from her eyes. Her head was thrown back, veins in her neck twitching. The smoke had turned as black as black was ever going to get and there was almost a hiss as it left her body.

His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. She was rejecting the spell! She was fighting it and it was causing her serious pain! He gripped her arms as she attempted to cringe away from it again. "Lucy! Listen to me! You can't fight this! You have to accept where you really belong! Doing so is only causing you to suffer! You don't belong in a world that you can make with a thought with some fake me that isn't real! You belong here at Fairy Tail with everyone...with me! With Happy! We all need you...we all miss you!" She screamed out again and jolted backward. His ears rang from being blasted so close and he cringed against the pain. "Get a hold of yourself! That place isn't real! Wherever you thought you were was only an illusion!"

The pain hit her in every vein she possessed. It went into her head down to her toes. The mud seemed to soak into her skin and she could feel the thickness of it move through her veins just past where it had been applied. The confusion and dizziness in her head whirled and mixed with the adrenaline and fear also coursing through her.

He watched dark lines start to appear where her veins were. They appeared a few inches around the medicine on her neck, on her chest, into her fingers, and bled into her eyes. The whites and color turned a dark brown and the veins around her eyes turned the same color. All the while, smoke erratically billowed out where it had been applied. She looked grotesque and it terrified him just what was happening to her. He didn't know how to help her combat this and his teeth clenched in helplessness. "Trust me Lucy! You said you trusted me! I would never hurt you! You know this right? Believe me!"

She heard him with difficulty over the rushing of blood in her ears. The pain was everywhere and there wasn't a safe spot. Her bones ached, her veins burned as if they'd been set on fire, her gut churned, her heart was beating like it was going to run away, and her eyes strained painfully. Every nerve in her body was being cruelly toyed with. Her head felt like someone was bashing her over the head with something! Her vision had clouded over and blackness greeted her vision, although she knew her eyes were open. She was absolutely terrified at what had befallen her in such a state of previous happiness and all she could think of was how to get rid of it.

Her fingers twitched open and close and those strong, warm, familiar hands latched onto her. She blindly clutched at them through the agony, feeling the pulse of his hands in hers and digging her nails into his skin. She knew Natsu was with her and that alone gave her strength and peace of mind to know she wasn't in this hell alone. Her teeth drew blood on her lip. "Natsu!" She cried out against a jolt of pain. "H – help...m - AAAHH!"

The cure had started out simple as it soaked up the magic and removed it in the form of smoke. He didn't know if this was how things were supposed to turn out, but he doubted it! She had turned it painful and he didn't know what else he could do to help her. His words were not reaching her and he couldn't hold her and make it all go away. The dark veins had gone up most of her neck, curving up the bottom of her jaw. Her chest was riddled with thick lines from the veins of her heart.

The intensity was over just as quickly as it had started. She gave a final arch off the bed with a huge puff of smoke and suddenly sunk into the mattress almost lifeless. The smoke fizzled away as it disappeared and was done. The veins visibly retracted and lightened, finally disappearing as well. The whites of her eyes showed up slowly, but when the irises could be seen, they were clouded and unseeing. He feared for a second that she didn't survive the treatment, but her chest suddenly heaved as she caught her breath. He also breathed, having held his breath in fear.

The marks he had made with the medicine had disappeared after having been absorbed into the skin and then removed via the smoke. She looked like before he had applied anything, save for the disheveled appearance. Her hands were limp in his and his let go to grasp her shoulders. "Lucy? Are you okay? Speak to me! How do you feel?"

Everything was blurry. She felt like she was forced to run miles without stopping until she had fallen over from sheer exhaustion. Her muscles hurt as if she had be saddled with lifting tons by herself all day. It was cold where her skin wasn't covered and she started shivering heavily. Not even a minute later, something warm and fluffy was being pulled over her body, but it didn't immediately help her temperature. She barely felt the tug on her clothes and registered that she wasn't cold in her chest anymore.

She never answered him and he did what he could from watching her. He covered her up and put her top back together. He sat next to her, waving a hand over her face. She didn't flinch at all and he worried she was blind. "Lucy, can you see me?"

There was a pink and flesh-colored blob in her vision. She raised a hand out from the warm covering to touch it lightly. It startled a bit, but remained still and she continued. Her fingers traipsed over the surface, finding eyes and nose and hair. She stopped at something soft and her finger pressed down on it. It felt familiar...

 _Just_ _as_ _she_ _thought._ _His_ _lips_ _were_ _really_ _soft._ _Her_ _finger_ _pulled_ _on_ _his_ _lower_ _lip_ _a_ _bit,_ _watching_ _it_ _scrunch_ _up_ _under_ _her_ _index_ _finger._ _It_ _was_ _captivating_ _actually._ _She_ _took_ _note_ _that_ _his_ _lips_ _were_ _also_ _shaking._

In a sudden haste, the incident at Crocus rushed through her head in full. The second it was done, she became perfectly aware of the last few days she had spent with Natsu in her apartment and throughout Magnolia. The flying, the coins, the fire in her apartment, the restaurant, the deep conversations about her condition, the scarf, the dancing, the lust, the stars, and the words of love. Her head filled with all of the knowledge she had accumulated and separated itself. She became aware of where she was and where she had been. All those words, those gestures, those touches, those adventures...none of them had happened. She was a fool. She had lost herself in the pleasure of an illusion when the real thing was right here sitting in front of her!

Yes, the real thing was sitting in front of her. He hadn't ever kissed her, hadn't heard her say that she loved and needed him, hadn't shared amazing instances with her, didn't know of her true emotions, and he hadn't returned her love. She had grown so much within the illusion and had learned and now she had been pull back so far that she had practically returned to the beginning.

"Natsu..." She inhaled a shaky breath. Tears filled her eyes and quickly spilled over. She cried for the fool she had been, for making him worry so much, for the reality she had returned to, the amazing world she had been taken from, and the love she had completely lost. She turned away from him and clutched her pillow, burying her face in it. She was awake, she knew this now. She knew because it hurt so much and it wouldn't go away no matter how much she told it to. She ordered and pleaded and still the heartache surrounded her.

He was stunned when she burst into tears. He almost hoped to see her smile and thank him, but she cried as if she had lost something precious. He had seen her cry in front of him before and knew she wasn't crying from relief. His heart twisted and a hand moved. It lightly touched her back and she flinched. He told himself to persevere and left it there.

What did she do now?! What did she say? How did she act? She had forgotten how it used to be with Natsu...back before she had taken any of the potions. She was so entrenched in loving him that it was impossible for her to backtrack at this point. She didn't want to; she loved him and she wanted to share this love with him! But she didn't know if he would even accept it and she didn't know what she'd do if he denied her now! She feared knowing the answer. She would rather slink back to her dream world of perfection than have a conversation about it with him!

" _I truly wish that the real me would wake up to all that you have to offer and stop being such an idiot. But you know how clumsy I am. I don't know what to do with you. Even when you kissed the real me, I still ran away from you. Potion or no potion... From what I've pulled from your memories of my reactions, there IS something there. Please know that you really do mean so much to the real me and don't lose faith."_

His heartfelt words rang in her ears. She took a deep breath to calm down. Dream Natsu knew more than she did because she had initially created him using her memories and thought he was real before she knew better. Even though he assimilated her emotions and was a little more sculpted to what she wanted from him, he was in essence still Natsu...he would know whether her memories were lies or truth more than she would.

She forced herself to stop crying as the hand on her back awkwardly moved up and down a little. It stopped after a second as if it had lost the will to continue. She didn't know what to do or say, but she wanted to at least make him feel better and let him know that she was indeed here with him. She pushed away from the pillow and slowly shifted to sit up. Her eyes ached and she was exhausted, even if she wasn't tired.

She stared at the hands in her lap, toying with a fingernail for a second as she gathered the courage and the words to say anything. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times. She couldn't push the words out no matter how hard she tried. She grit her teeth and told herself that she would have to accept his answer. She had no other choice. "N...Na...tsu...I...I..." She slowly looked up, shaking in fear and emotion, and met his eyes.

There was so much anxiety and love and uncertainty in those deep brown eyes and it was all directed his way. His mind blanked as he stared. His body turned numb as he took in the sheer depth of hopeful love being expressed. His adrenaline kicked in as did the blush on his face.

He had never figured out what to do for this instance. He had never let himself have the time to consider the recent history that had changed everything and his emotions. He hadn't thought of what he would say or do after he cured Lucy, but there was no more time to do that and now he was in trouble...but he couldn't, wouldn't, run away again! She was sitting in front of him now, so vulnerable after having done so much with this so-called dream Natsu. Leaving would only reject her yet again. He felt like he had to say something, but he didn't want it to be wrong. What did he do!? What was correct?

A hand tentatively reached across the bed and touched his. He jumped at the contact and looked to it. Her fingers trembled and touched him so lightly, like she was afraid to do so. His brow furrowed as his heart clenched again. He looked to her, seeing hope mix in with fear, and he moved on instinct. He shifted forward on the bed faster than he thought he could ever move and pulled her to him. He squeezed her to his chest, burying his face in her hair, and clenching a hand in the soft locks. His other arm rested against her waist, fingers digging into the cloth over her skin. He breathed in her scent and tried to ground himself in the feel of her in his arms. "Lucy! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

He could be referring to anything since that one night happened in Crocus, but she took it as she wanted to in this second. Her eyes teared and squeezed shut, daring to feel a shred of happiness. Her arms raised and clutched his shirt as best she could, hanging on to the one thing that may be her lifeline in this world. She sat there trembling in time with him, feeling safe inside his hold. He was so warm and strong...just like he had been in her dreams. "Natsu..." Her forehead touched his shoulder and her tears wet his shirt. He smelled so real and she breathed him in.


	15. Chapter 15

She was so small and fragile and he felt if he squeezed her any tighter he would break her into a thousand pieces. But he didn't want to release his hold and come back to reality. His eyes peeked open and stared at her hair as he suddenly realized with that thought a little more of what she was going through. He was denying dealing with the reality of the situation, and had done so, for the attractiveness of an illusion...just as she had done. She had wanted to live in the illusion because it was so much better than the difficulty of the real world and what it presented: a world in which he didn't love her.

He had no idea what had transpired in her head yet, but he had every intention of finding out. If she had spent such time with him, he wanted to be a part of it. He didn't want her to have to hide the experiences she shared with his dream self because she was afraid of what he would do here in the real world. As far as she was aware, he knew absolutely nothing and considered her not as special in his life compared to what his dream self must think. He had a million questions to ask, but didn't know where to start. He finally pulled away and looked her in the eye. "Lucy..." He blushed a little, heart thumping. "I need... I want you to tell me...what happened...in your world. I want to know...what you did..."

Her eyes widened, face flaming. Her mouth opened to ask him to be more specific, but words wouldn't come out. It took serious will to force the questions out. "I...I...don't know...what you mean..." She harshly swallowed. "You mean...with you?" He nodded and her ears burned up. She tried looking away from him, but his hand was still on the back of her head and kept her from doing so.

"Lucy. I don't know what you think, but you don't know everything that's been going on." His face got redder. "Do you remember...when I found your book?" She nodded. "You had...a dream...where I found the book...right?" She nodded again. He stuttered for a second, feeling highly uncomfortable. "I...sort of...heard you...talking in your sleep..."

Her eyes could've popped out of her head! She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, but she was! Even though she had already passed this point long ago while asleep, this Natsu wasn't the Natsu in her dreams and he had no knowledge of what they had done together in her head. She squeaked and attempted to pull away from him to hide, but he wouldn't let her go. "You did?! Back then? How much do you know?!"

He didn't think he could get any redder or more uncomfortable! But, if he was going to be true and connect the bridges. He had to do this. He tried to steel himself. "I...Um...I heard...what you said...to me... That – that you...love me..."

She froze, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in his arms. Even if she had told dream Natsu multiple times...this wasn't him right now. She was going through this all over again and she couldn't stop herself from feeling the same way twice! "I...I...um...well...I...do..." She almost couldn't believe she admitted it, but the dream world came back to her. She pulled strength from her previous experiences and tried to calm down. She looked into his unsure, slightly hopeful eyes and felt her heart warm. She smiled and buried her face in his chest, putting her ear to his heart as she had done in her dreams. "I love you Natsu."

She listened to his heart thunder, feeling amazing to know that his heart was going as rapidly as hers was. She felt his arms tightened around her again and his breath on her neck. She tried to focus on the moment and not on his questions; she wanted to enjoy this reality from her dream turned real. She didn't wish to explain anything else. Just let time pass them by like this and she wouldn't care what happened to the rest of the world!

But he had so many more things he wanted her to say and he eventually broke their hold to look at her again. He somehow felt thrilled and scared as he looked into her face. He knew it was only proper to say the words back to her, but he choked. He really thought it wouldn't hurt to say it and he didn't really mind if he did so, even though he was thrown into this without having time to process everything. It felt right...but he couldn't do it...

She looked at the conflict in his eyes and smiled a little sadly. She refused to cry over his lack of answer and told herself she had to understand. She had improved and changed so much in such a short amount of time and he was still sitting in reality wandering about without any help. She had the aid of her mind and had discovered her true feelings and he wasn't given this chance yet. Of course he would feel this way. She had just dumped a serious twist on him!

She leaned back and slowly pushed on his chest and he let her go. She looked away and fixed the awkward position that she was in. She sat a little away from him and looked to the outside world. It seemed so far away and she felt like a foreigner being here in the apartment she had owned for so many months now. She gave a little bittersweet sigh and then looked to his hands. She quietly took one and turned his palm up so she could look at it.

He let her do as she wished, feeling absolutely horrible. He felt so guilty and he still wanted to say something, but he didn't want to say something that he didn't fully believe in yet. Lucy was indeed special to him, but he hadn't processed just HOW special she was. He didn't want to say such important words to her if they ended up being not one hundred percent true. He knew how much they meant and he owed it to her to give her his all when he could.

The silence was tense and deafening. She idly toyed with his fingers, happy he was at least letting her touch him like this. It made her feel a tad better to have some sense of physical contact with him. The dreams of love and lust entered her mind, but they seemed truly like a dream...almost a bad one at this point. Her shoulders slumped the barest of degrees as she almost wished it had never happened and then quickly reprimanded herself for such thoughts. Despite what had happened around her, she had lived a life of amazing brilliance and it shouldn't be something she regretted. Doing so would mean all her feelings should be bottled up and they returned to just being friends. How could she put a lid on something this amazing?

She closed his palm and made a loose fist and made up her mind. She was going to say this only once and then she would be done. She would be honest with him and let him do with her words as he saw fit. If he never returned her love in the end, all was not lost. She knew dream Natsu was still there waiting for her and if she was unable to give real Natsu her love, she knew the dream would readily accept it. She would be content with that in the meantime as she waited on reality.

She steeled her will and pointedly stared at his hand. Finally ready, she let go and sat up straight, looking in his eyes in all seriousness. She took a few extra seconds to formulate exactly how she wanted to say everything and where to start. "I caused such pain to everyone in the guild and for that I apologize. I got into something that I didn't understand and made you worry over me so much." She noted how haggard he looked, but forged on. She would deal with that later. "I want to tell you this and you can take it however you want. I won't make you do something that you're not ready for and I don't hold you responsible." She paused and waited for him to nod. She only continued when he did. "I love you Natsu...I don't know when I started, but I...I just can't go back. I can't bury all of these glorious emotions that I've found for you."

His heart thumped almost painfully. "Lucy...I -"

She looked away from him, cutting him off. "I'm not asking you to say it back. Just let me love you...that's all I want. Please just accept it and don't turn away from me. Whether I take your hand or hug you or k – kiss you. Just please don't reject my feelings...please... Don't push me away again."

The gravity of her words washed over him. He stared at her hard eyes as they refused to look his way. She thought he would push her away again as he had in the past and she had no reason to believe otherwise. She was going off what she knew from his previous behavior and he didn't fault her for that. A hand reached out and landed on her knee. He left it there and met her eyes with a slight smile. "I understand." He muttered, giving it a squeeze. "I wouldn't dream of shutting you out now. It would be wrong to do so." His face flared and he tried to be strong. "I won't reject you and I won't push you away. Ever...ever since Crocus...I - I stopped just calling you my best friend...it just feels...hollow." He tried to grasp at the proper words, having her rapt, wide-eyed attention. A hand rubbed the back of his neck. "We had so much going on since then, ya know? I didn't have time to think about anything. I guess part of me didn't want to. It was just you Lucy...ya know? You've always been there, right next to me. I never bothered with anything else." A finger scratched his nose. "I'm just kind of dumb that way, I guess."

" _You know how clumsy I am. I don't know what to do with you..."_

All of the conversations with dream Natsu flooded her mind. All of his insightful words that she had barely taken at face level and mostly disbelieved...they had never been more true than in this moment. All of that information resonated down to her core. She suddenly understood him better than he probably understood himself and she felt comforted knowing his heart on a more intimate level than he did. It gave her strength to wait and believe and get back to normal in the meantime. Maybe in time he would come to be her dream after he knew what she did.

She took the hand away from his face and gently grasped his cheeks with her hands. She looked at him with love and knowing. "I understand Natsu. You don't need to say anything else. Believe me when I say that I know what you're talking about and please don't worry. You don't need to explain your behavior. I know. I've known for days now." She ignored his confused look and leaned her forehead against his. She could practically feel the heat radiating from him. "I believe in you Natsu. I don't want you to lie to yourself and do something you don't believe in. That's not who you are and I know that."

He dumbly sat there as she lightly kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose, and both of his eyes with trembling, soft lips. His eyes fluttered open as he felt breath over his mouth and he looked at her. She looked a little scared as she met his eyes inches away. Her fingers shook over his face and it matched the tempo of her breathing. She had acted as she thought was normal and must have come to recognize that her behavior wasn't normal to him and thus paused. She was afraid of doing so, even though she truly wanted to. He didn't have the heart to deny her, even though he was suddenly frightened of letting her.

Their first kiss flashed through his mind. She had kissed him so heavily for the barest of seconds before he shoved her away. That could barely have been called a kiss since she wasn't in her right mind at the time. Not like now. Lucy was in full possession of all her wits and she was sitting in front of him like this. He felt unlike himself as he stared at her. It felt like there was someone else in his place and perhaps there was. She was perhaps drawing on her dreams right now. Did she even see him in this second? Was she looking at the real him or the dream version?

Teeth bit her lip as she struggled. Despite telling him not to push her away, she couldn't bring herself to close the gap. She was scared he would push her away again. She wanted to give him something beautiful that she had thought up whilst asleep. She wanted to convey to him everything in her heart...but she didn't want it to be crushed into tiny pieces. She didn't think she'd survive it again...

His hand rose and lightly clutched her chin. She jumped and her eyes widened a little. "Lucy..." He whispered, hearing her gasp when his breath touched her. I won't reject you or push you away. I just said I wouldn't, didn't I?" His brow furrowed a little. "You remember that right? You're looking at ME right? You're not just pretending here?"

Her heart almost broke at the insinuation of his words. How could he even think that in a time like this with as unsure as she was? If this was a dream, she would already have kissed him! Her eyes teared as she told herself he was clueless and going off assumptions right now. "I only see you Natsu. You wanted me to tell you what happened in my world...with you... I'll tell you everything...but...I'd prefer to...show you this... That's okay...right?"

He nodded the barest of degrees and she took that as the sign to continue. Her lips touched his and she was struck with how she didn't know that he was shaking this much. She pressed against him a little more after he exhaled a choppy breath. Her fingers snaked back to his neck, splaying her fingers through his hair. She quickly lost herself and clutched at him, pressing herself against him.

This was reality! This wasn't a dream! She was finally kissing the real Natsu and her heart soared. His lack of experience was glaring at her, but she ignored it. She would direct him then. She would be the one in control here, just as dream Natsu had been in control in the beginning when she was so tossed about.

All of his nerve endings were focused on her mouth and the feel of her chest against his. He burned where she touched him and his brain was tingling at the feel of her playing with his hair. He had never felt more alive and yet more unsure of just what to do! Every male instinct was telling him to kiss her back and touch her, but he was so stunned by the scenario right now that he had locked up. His head wasn't working with her ministrations.

The second her lips parted and her tongue timidly snaked into his mouth and found his, he snapped. A jolt went through him like nothing else he had ever experienced. His arms went around her and clutched her to him, almost worried he would break her. His open eyes took in her wide shocked ones before they slid closed and her hands clutched at his neck.

They fought for dominance; her experience versus his raw male power. She had opened the doorway to a very potent emotion that he had never yet known, but it had him full force and he lost himself in it. It was enticing and delicious and he reveled in how she made him feel. No power ever given, no flames he could eat, no etherion he could ingest would ever make him feel so on top of the world. It was exhilarating and he wanted to feel it for as long as possible.

His hands roamed up and down her back and she burned where he touched her. His nails dug into her and she wondered what would have happened if the fabric wasn't there to protect her. This had yet to happen to her and she trembled against the ecstasy that it brought on. She couldn't breathe against the assault he was doing to her senses. All she could keep thinking was that this was real...it was actually happening!

She finally pulled away with a gasp and tried to catch her breath. He wasn't finished in the slightest and was somewhat upset that she pulled away. His ears picked up every heartbeat, every breath, every shake and it drove him insane. He pushed her backwards against his hold and clutched at her hair exposing her throat to attack. He could hear her breath wheeze until his tongue found the hollow of her throat. She gasped and cried out a little as his tongue trailed up to a fluttering pulse in her throat. He brushed his canines against it and tightened his hold against her when she moaned.

This hadn't happened yet...but oh god...how good it felt! She couldn't get herself to counterattack him and take control. He had dominated her with the powerful force that was his personality and physical appeal and there was nowhere else she would rather be.

Her arms limply tried to raise from their useless spots in her lap. Her fingers reached up blindly, touching his muscles and pressed. He was so hot! She felt him twitch under her touch and a sense of power returned to her. She raked both hands down his chest, not caring if she caused him pain and heard him hiss.

The sheer, primitive act of aggression sent his mind into a spiral. It hurt, but it felt amazing! He lost it for a second as his mouth clamped down on that wildly beating vein and he bit her. She arched against him and cried out as his mouth tightened hard enough to draw blood. The smell of her lust met his nose and sent another notch of aggression into his head. He let go and grabbed a hold of her collarbone and sucked on her skin. His muscles were twitching as she kept roaming over his torso. She was incredible; this was incredible!

She feared she was going to pass out from such a high degree of ecstasy. She was dizzy, her head was cloudy, her vision was blurry, and she was seriously attuned to everything he was doing. His tongue was sweet torture as it licked its way through the hollow of her throat to her other shoulder. The air was cold where he had touched, but she barely even felt it. Her mouth trembled, aching to kiss him. "N – Natsu..." She breathed, not even sure he heard her. "Yes..."

It was the same as before. She had said his name in the same way. He couldn't help but smile against her. He pulled away and moved her to face him. She was red in the face, her chest was heaving, her eyes were clouded and unseeing, and she was looking at him with such intensity. He felt his gut lurch. "Lucy..."

Hearing her name in the same emotion as she said his snapped her back a little. She pressed his lips against hers roughly. He met hers and they battled again. Neither could get the better of each other, both wanting to be the one in control. Through the feel of their skin meeting, she became aware of his hands actually touching her back and realized that he had snuck up under her top. Alarms went off in her head, eyes snapping open. She suddenly shoved him away, breathing heavy and feeling quite ashamed of herself for doing so with as far as they'd gone in the matter of mere minutes..

He was pulled away from his world of pleasure and crashed back to reality. He flopped backwards on the bed and stared at her in confusion, wondering he did wrong. Something was wrong if she pushed him away from something she was obviously enjoying so much. He panted, trying to get back under control. He shook his head to try and clear it. "L – Lucy?"

"I'm sorry Natsu... It's just...I'm not...ready for that yet...I think..." She breathed, feeling a sense of dejá vu. Then she realized how some of this scenario had overlapped and she shook her head, trying to not get them confused. That would only insult him if she did so and she never wanted this real person she had loved so much feel like he was second best to the illusion she had initially fallen in love with. It would probably break him if she told him her mind was confused between the two of him.

He coughed awkwardly and looked away. "Yea...that's fine... Sorry... I must have gotten...caught up in the moment... I won't do anything like that again until you tell me it's okay."

These words had already been spoken to her, but they still meant just as much to her. She looked to him, feeling her heart swell. "I still appreciate those words." She touched his face tenderly, looking at him with love. His hand cupped hers, looking at her with a boyish smile. They sat there for a while, coming back to themselves and yet focusing on the other person.

Neither felt like moving, or dared to, until their breathing returned to normal. Time had stopped and yet the day had passed and the shadows in her room lengthened. The very long and eventful day was ending. She finally pulled away from him to look around the room. How strange it seemed, even after all the times she started the dream world in here. Yet this was her residence, the place she slept in. It almost seemed like another world when she knew that it would not change in the blink of an eye.

In the silence of the room, a deafening growl brought her back to the gravity of her situation. She probably hadn't eaten in days and the amount of energy she had just expelled since having woken up had drained her. Her face flamed as she looked away from Natsu's smile. She quickly stood and realized the error as the lack of use of her legs made it hard to balance.

Natsu was off the bed in a flash to steady her as she teetered toward the chair. He didn't want her hitting her head on anything else while he was here. He wrapped her arm around his shoulders and situated her to put most of her weight on him. "How about we get you something to eat? You've lost too much weight you invalid you!"

She didn't look pleased at that jab as they made their way to he kitchen. "Usually you tell me that I'm too heavy." She cut back, feeling self-conscious. She knew she must look a mess, but she didn't need to be reminded of it.

His free hand waved her off before parting the curtain for them. "Oh relax...I was just kidding. You're not fat and you know it. You're just fine."

She grinned against his honest compliment...if he had even meant it to be so. He placed her on the counter and started grabbing pretty much everything out of her pantry. She watched him smell everything he pulled from the cupboards, tossing a few things in the trash with a disgusted face. She was unaware that so much was still good and just looking at all the basic ingredients and dishes that were made for her made her mouth water. She demanded he give her the bowl she knew Mira had made for her and chowed down once he handed her a spoon.

He watched her eat with a smile and grabbed something for himself. He suddenly found himself ravenous, not only from their activity, but from the stress and worry not letting him eat. They practically emptied the counter between the two of them. Little talk was made, but then, nothing needed be said. They were happy to just be there in her kitchen having food together. How long had it been?

When she had thoroughly stuffed herself, she slid down the counter and wrapped an arm around his waist just in case as they left the room. The night had come upon them and she made her way to the bed again. She opened the window and smelled the fresh air appreciatively and looked to the stars. She felt him look from behind her and smiled as she turned his way a little. "Ya know...you and I flew into the depths of space once..." She quietly mused, fondly remembering the time. "We flew so high that the planet disappeared and all we could see were nothing but stars. It was so dark, but we could still see each other." She let the memory become a little more real as she sat back. "I reached out like this," her hands cupped, "and grabbed a bunch of stars. You ended up picking them out and making a crown of stars in my hair..."

He sat in silence as he listened to the fantasy, watching her lose a little grip on reality. She stared at her empty hands, eyes clouding over a little and he startled a bit at seeing how he was quickly losing her. He put a hand on her hands and she jumped, rapidly blinking. He felt some trepidation in the fact that she had reverted so easily to the other side with him right in front of her and his fingers squeezed hers. "Except that never happened." He quietly pressed. "It was just a dream..."

She nodded, feeling how sad she was at knowing that when she was in the middle of space. "I know...I knew... The world was as I wanted to make it and I did things I could never do here...like go into space with you... He and I flew around Magnolia and touched stars millions of miles away. Yet it wasn't real... None of it was." Her eyes teared all over again and her palms fell into her lap, useless and empty.

His mouth tightened at watching the struggle over her face. He scooted a little closer and slowly pulled her to him. She readily accepted his hold and he gently took her into his arms. "I know it sounds amazing, but a dream is just a dream in the end. I'll never know how you felt and what you did, but I hope you'll be able to share it with me some day." He pulled away with an encouraging smile. "You and I will just have to do better and make every day as exciting and special as we can. How does that sound?"

She dumbly nodded, lips twitching at the infectiousness of his smile. Words came to her without thought and before she could react, she was speaking them. "I never believed. All I did was doubt you. But the dream you said that there was something there and to not lose faith. He was you from my memories and he behaved as I wanted based off the emotions I had. Yet he was still you...and he was right."

He didn't know what to say to her and thus he said nothing. He escaped by resting his forehead against hers and closing his eyes as peace settled over them. After staying like that for a minute or two, he suddenly felt the loss of strength and came face to face with the severe depth of exhaustion from everything over the last few days. "I'm tired." His murmured, mostly to himself. "I promised not to rest until I got your cure. Now that you're back, I think I'd very much like to sleep for a while."

She slowly nodded. Up close, even in the horrible lighting, she could see the stress lines in his eyes, the pull to his lips, and the circles under his eyes. Her heart went out to him and she worried he had been awake the whole time since they parted. "Then sleep." She whispered. "Here. With me."

His eyes opened and met hers. "Usually you hate it when I sleep in your bed." He blurted out.

A tender smile popped up. She pulled back and grabbed an arm to tug him to the front of the bed. "I used to." She shifted out around the blanket and kicked it away for now. "But not anymore." She let go as he situated to a more proper sleeping stance and laid on her pillow. She rearranged the comforter over them and looked down at him. "You once asked me to stay with you and I accepted. I could never leave you. I wouldn't survive to be apart from you for so long." Her fingers found his and entwined between his. She brought his hand out from the blankets and gave the back of his hand the barest of kisses. "So I ask this of you now: stay with me here and now. Let's sleep together. It's over. I'm back Natsu...and I have you to thank for everything."

He leaned up and gently kissed her. "I can't say no to something like that..." He whispered. His arms went around her, as hers did him, and they lay back on her mattress together. Her hair splayed out over the pillow and tickled part of his arm. Her breath was slow on his neck, but it only brought him peace. The horror of the last few days passed as nothing more than a bad dream and it seemed nostalgic to be here in her bed like he used to do. But, things were better than back then, and he allowed himself a second to revel in this new twist before he passed out holding her.

 _Final bed scene inspiration: leons-7. deviantart art/ Night-NaLu-496567718_


	16. Chapter 16

She didn't think she could even fall asleep. She had slept so much and didn't think she was tired...but the trauma done to her body from the cure, the general weakness of it, and the weight of the food that she hadn't eaten in days all crashed over her as she passed out from it.

When her eyes peeked open, she wasn't in her room. She didn't hear the bustle of Magnolia or see anything familiar. She was surrounded by a bland blue in every direction. Nothing could be seen as far as she could tell in any place she turned to. She knew she was dreaming because Natsu wasn't in bed with her. She wasn't in any place remotely real and she was floating.

"Where am I?" Her voice echoed a little and she startled at it. What was this?! This wasn't the dream world that she had known before. She suddenly wondered if the cure had stripped everything from her. Yet if she was cured, that didn't explain the fact that she was aware that she was dreaming. She had remembered everything that happened since she was thrown back into reality. She could clearly feel Natsu's arm around her hip.

Hands cupped around her mouth. Natsu! Where was he here? "Natsu?! Answer me!" Her heart twinged as she worried what would have befallen him. Everything was gone...was he too?! Her brow furrowed as she felt severe guilt. After all they had shared and after all he taught her...how could she have done that to him? "Natsu! Please answer me! Please let me know that you haven't vanished on me!"

A sudden thump sounded behind her and she whirled around. There he was, surrounded by a huge pane with Magnolia on the other side. It wasn't there when she looked; she must have called it forth through sheer desperation... He was floating in the air, complete with scarf. Hands went over her mouth as she gasped. He seemed trapped inside whatever wall had been put between him. She flew to the barrier, hands splaying wide against it. She pushed against it, hit it, shoulders heaving.

His hands pressed up against hers. His head slowly shook, halting her attacks. "It's useless. I've already tried it." He answered, voice muffled by the wall.

Her teeth grit as her forehead leaned against it. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen to you!" Her eyes teared up. "How can I get you out of here?"

His eyes slowly closed. "You can't. You don't." He gave her a small smile, trying to make her feel better. "It's okay...really. I was being selfish and I was jealous...jealous of my real self. I did something to you that should not have ever happened: I wanted you to stay asleep forever with me for my sake." His brow furrowed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to take you away from him."

A fist weakly pounded on the barrier. "Don't be sorry! You helped me so much; you showed me so much! You taught me everything!" She pushed back and looked around. It extended past the field of her vision in every direction. She had a feeling she could fly as far as she wanted and it wouldn't change. "You said that this was all a dream and thus I should be able to do and make whatever I want if I just think of it. I want this barrier to disappear and free you! It's not fair! You don't deserve this! You did nothing wrong!" Nothing changed and she scratched it. "Why isn't it working?!"

He leaned forward, putting his palms on the glass and resting his forehead against it. "I'm happy for you, you know that?"

He knew. She looked at him in guilt. "I...I didn't mean...to betray you..."

His head shook again to deny her. "You didn't so don't think that way. I'm glad that I could help you." He smiled again, though it was empty. "I'll never forget our time together. It'll stay here with me...you'll still stay here with me. On this side."

Tears flowed down her cheeks. "Why?" She finally bit out. "Why does it have to be this way?"

"Because you have me in the real world. You don't need this me anymore, right?"

"Yes I do!" She hotly denied. "How could you say that?! How could you think that?!"

"I told you before...your emotions created me from what you really wanted for us. I'm here because of you and the help of those potions. The dream world mixed with your reality. The things I know from your own memories...your own emotions."

"But...but why...why are you trapped?" She whispered, barely able to speak against the crushing sensation in her chest. "Why do you have to be held at bay from me? Why am I not allowed to cross the line to you?"

His eyes closed. "I think it had something to do with the cure. But I don't know...you'd have to look into it further for yourself. If I got that cure, then someone wrote it. If you're lucky and if you really want answers...maybe you can find that person and ask those questions yourself."

She dumbly nodded. This was all so unfair! She had started out horrible and he had walked her through all of it to understand what was going on here! She owed everything to him and now he would remain separated from her for who knew how long. Her eyes hardened and she harshly scrubbed her face from all tears. "I will." She stubbornly insisted. "I'm going to go ask questions as soon as I can travel. I'm going to figure this out and free you!"

He smiled. "That's the Lucy I know and love." His eyes teared against his will as he looked into her beautiful eyes. "You should go now... Go be with me in the real world. Go do everything we did to him and know that you can do that from our time together here. I know...I saw you." His brow furrowed. His heart clenched, but he refused to let her see. "I'll be with you for everything. In a way...I am you, right?. I'm part of your subconscious and your emotions and your memories of me. What you feel for him, what you do with him...I'll see. I'll know...and I'll be cheering you on every step of the way."

Her jaw clenched. She refused to let him see her cry. The Lucy he loved...she would give him that. She would let him see her in better spirits than she had acted. But she couldn't smile. She didn't know if she would see him again after what had happened. "I love you Natsu...I always will."

"I love you too Lucy. Make the real me tell you too. Show him all the love you have and keep at it until he has no more reason to hesitate and deny you anymore. Shake it out of him if you have to!"

She shakily laughed despite herself, blinking to keep tears at bay. "You never were good at telling jokes you know..." She reiterated.

His grinned. "I know that...but I still try don't I?" He repeated.

She slowly pushed back from the barrier, hands still touching it. Her eyes squeezed tight for a second as she composed herself. She took a deep breath and let it out, feeling stronger and thus looked at him. "I will free you." She promised, looking him in the eye. "I'll find this person and figure out what happened. This isn't the end of you...of us."

"It may be the end of us...but perhaps not my end." He grinned, hands also resting on the glass as he mimicked her pose. "I'll happily wait for you and that day then. In the meantime, I really will root for you from the bottom of my heart."

She harshly swallowed. She could handle no more of this heart-wrenching situation and told herself to wake now. She could feel a compliance somewhere in her heart and felt her body change. It lit up a little and sparkles floated into her vision as her feet and legs slowly dissipated. She stared at him, memorizing him through the opaque barrier. Her torso went with it and her fingers started in as well. "This isn't the end." She seriously vowed, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

He smiled, eyes locked on her. "Smile for me Lucy. I want to remember you that way."

How could she ignore such a request? Tears blurred her vision a bit as she did as he asked. "I love you." She whispered, voice cracking. Her face was the last thing to go. She tried to make it so he could see her smile was the very last thing he saw before she disappeared completely and woke up.

Her eyes popped open in the darkness. She stared at tousled pink hair, felt strong warmth surrounding her, and found his face so close to hers. She blinked and tears fell. She noted that her pillow was quite soaked with them and with good reason.

Slowly, trying to be careful not to wake him, she escaped from his embrace and sat up. The moon was fully out and it illuminated his sleeping form. Shadows played with his muscles and cast half his face in shadow. She looked down at him, feeling such a mix of love and sadness and disappointment and relief all together at once. She didn't know which one to feel first as the dream came back to her. She was true in her words; she wasn't going to let dream Natsu suffer hidden away from her due to the cure. Whatever had happened to her dream world because of the cure she would figure out and she would balance these two worlds. Part of her screamed not to let this be the end.

She got off the bed and snuck a peak at the beautiful person taking up her bed. He didn't rouse and she knew he would have with his keen senses. He must have been utterly exhausted not to. Her brow furrowed as she mentally chided him for doing such a thing to himself. If she was lucky...perhaps he would sleep until morning and she could just sit there and admire his sleeping form in all its childlike peace. But for right now...there was something even more important for her to do.

She turned in the darkness and headed for her desk...where this all revolved around and started it all. She turned the lamp on and tried to keep it away from Natsu as much as possible. She grabbed a thick stack of paper and her pen and an extra inkwell. She had once said that a dream she had would have been a great idea and great literature. The words she had written so many days ago were still on her desk and she stared at them. They seemed so different and she shoved them aside. They were useless to her now. The muse that suddenly possessed her was stronger than the first and she felt if she didn't do justice to this need to write, then she would lose every memory she had held dear.

She took a deep breath and started in, praying her hand held out till she finished. She had so much to write about. She started out the story with a pair of friends; one male, one female. They were powerful and went on many amazing adventures. They were together through strife and good times. Then, something occurred between them that had never occurred before and changed their status. The female had initiated it...but being that she was under a spell, it was locked into the depths of her mind. She wanted to know and cast a sleep spell upon herself and fell into a deep slumber. She became lost in a dream world and did so many different type of amazing things with the counterpart of her male friend...eventually falling in love with him.

Lucy wrote about their awesome adventures in her dream, wanting to immortalize dream Natsu in a sense. She captured with ease their intimate words and actions to each other. She never wanted to forget him and she felt that getting this onto paper, a tangible substance, would still allow her to connect with him whenever she wanted. She was so grateful beyond words and even though he was one and the same with the person mere feet away in her bed, the love she still held for him was genuine.

She wrote and wrote and the amount of pages couldn't dry fast enough before she stacked another one onto it. She was possessed with the muse she had been hunting for originally and it kept her sanity at bay until the last possible word was written and a conclusion was finished. Even if there was no real ending, she finished it with the barrier separating the lovers. She figured she would do a later continuation of the story when she finally got to it.

The barest traces of dawn started peeking in when she stacked the last dozen pages together. She heard rustling nearby and looked to the bed. She had put her pen down moments ago and was currently massaging her poor wrist as he woke up. She turned in the chair to face him, taking the time to watch him. When he kept moving around, arm groping her side to find her, she got up and sat on the edge of the bed.

He muffled something unintelligible along with her name. She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. He muffled her name again and she smiled. "Lucy...come here..."

She readily complied and climbed back into bed, into his awaiting arms. She was overtaken with his warmth and realized how cold her apartment had been, though she had never noticed. She felt his arm rest over the curve of her waist and his fingers toy with her hair slowly.

"You're all cold..." He mumbled, pressing her a little closer. "Where did you go?"

She smiled and buried her face in his neck. "I didn't go anywhere Natsu. I was right here with you...just like I said I would be."

"Mmm...good..." He sighed and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Sleepy time...go back to sleep..."

She smiled, heart warming, as he heated up her body. His feet entwined with hers and he whined at how cold they were. He sent a bout of heat through his feet and stopped when she was as warm as he was. There...that was better. There was nothing chilled about her anymore and she was as warm and soft as when they fell asleep last night. He had slept so deeply that he never remembered her even getting up until he shifted and felt the cold air. But she was back and his arms were around her and that was all that mattered.

He dozed in and out as the morning passed them. He finally decided enough was enough and loosened his hold so she could get up. The pair got out of bed and stretched. She realized how horribly emaciated her body had become and how careful she needed to be with it. She worried they didn't have enough food for the day and knew that she needed to go shopping...and to a real restaurant...and get a bath! She suddenly pulled her pajamas to herself and sniffed, pulling away when she got a less than wanted, yet not unexpected, aroma.

She looked to him as he stood there, still trying to wake up. "I'm going to go clean up...I don't remember how long it's been since I've done so." A finger whipped in his direction. "No peeking!"

He blinked and yawned. A hand scratched the back of his head. "Why?"

Her face flamed and she sputtered. "B – because! There are still some things that I'm uncomfortable with around you!" She grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom. She made to shut it and stuck her head out. "Got it?! Wait till I come out and then you can come in here if you want!"

"Yea, yea." He waved her off and listened to the door practically slam closed. He couldn't help but grin at her reaction despite all that had transpired between them. He looked around with nothing else to do. His ears picked up the shower and he tried to physically distance himself, knowing exactly what was going on in there.

He stared outside for a few minutes and looked down. The world had seemed to change drastically over the course of a simple day. It seemed so foreign to him and he didn't know why. He wondered if this was how Lucy felt as well. He opened the window and breathed in the smells of food and his stomach rumbled. He decided when she was done that he would clean up a little and then they were going out to get something to eat! But not at the guild...he didn't want to share her with anyone for at least half of the day!

A rustling sounded next to him and he looked down at her desk. A huge stack of papers was sitting there in Lucy's handwriting. He blinked in confusion and reached for the first page. He knew from the few times he had been here that she hadn't written anything more than the handful of those words in the beginning. So when did she have time to do all this? He remembered the coldness of her bed and suddenly realized she was up sometime in the night to write. Judging by the amount here, she must have been up most of the evening!

He plopped into the chair and turned to the stack. He focused on the words before him, scanning what she had put to page and curious at the sheer amount before him.

 _There was an amazing dream she had during her time in the infirmary which had given her an idea for a story, but there was no way she was going to show it to anyone! It was hard to remember the dream exactly, but the fragments that she could remember now sparked her muse to want to create something from it. The idea was weak, but the inspiration was there. She had a feeling this was going to be a great story! However...due to the idea she had, she would rather die than tell anyone about it._

He read the rest of the page and quickly went to the other. He became engrossed in her words and suddenly knew that she had written about her experience all the way from the beginning change between them. Everything was here with different characters and the same circumstances. She had written about the incident in the hotel, the potion, the effects, and him in the dream world.

 _He took a slow step toward her. His hand pushed her shoulder, getting her to turn around. "I think you should go." He mumbled. He slowly moved her to the door and opened it. "Trust me when I say you're better off not knowing. Don't try to remember this. Please."_

 _She stood looking out at the trees surrounding his house. She felt lost. It barely registered when the door slowly clicked behind her. He had thrown her out of his house over this. She finally lost the will to stand and fell to the ground, idly staring at her hands as tears blocked her vision._

Seeing his own words on page was strange. It made him relive that conversation in his house and his guilt flared. The emotions she experienced after he kicked her out only ate at him. He had no idea how she felt because he had locked her out of his house in attempt to keep them both safe, but he read that he had done quite the opposite. Had he ever imagined that she would do this to herself just to know the truth, he would have kept her from her apartment until she had been informed of everything! Forgetting all about the real Lucy in the other room, he read on.

 _Hearing_ _her_ _name_ _in_ _such_ _a_ _manner_ _sent_ _a_ _tingle_ _down_ _her_ _that_ _made_ _her_ _bite_ _her_ _swollen_ _lips. "Yes..." Her_ _free_ _arm_ _pressed_ _his_ _chest_ _to_ _her,_ _wanting_ _to_ _feel_ _him_ _as_ _tightly_ _as_ _possible. "You're...burning_ _up..."_

 _He smiled at the irony that she would use his words before he did. "Ah." He reached out and licked her earring, hearing her gasp. "That's why..." He grabbed onto it with his enlarged canines and nibbled, getting a near shout from her. "You make me burn."_

His face flamed, heart racing. These words were from the dream he listened in on...only in much more detail! His read as if obsessed, unable to tear himself away from the words as they burned into his eyes and lit his skin on fire. It was almost like she was right here and he was touching her now. The writing was so realistic and he couldn't stop. He almost felt he was there doing these things to her...saying those things to her...

 _He looked at her and shifted on the bed to sit and face her. His legs crossed when she made room for him to sit more comfortably. "This all started from that memory and those potions. I was the only one with you at the time so you started from me and worked outward using the areas that you have frequented until now. Have you ever wondered why you enter this world in your bedroom and usually in bed? It's because, for the most part, you're somewhere in this apartment and not outside. If you wanted to change that, you'd just have to tell yourself to be somewhere else when you fall asleep." A hand scratched the back of his head. "I suppose I may be a piece of your subconscious. You're really smart, you know that? You have all sorts of answers stuck in your head that I can access. The more you're here and the more you use your mind to create whatever you want, whether it be a scenario or an item, the more you open up your consciousness."_

He was getting this side of her from her dream world. The entire time when she was asleep was all laid out here. Every touch, every adventure, every time with his dream self had been put to paper. He felt like he was finally understanding just what had happened to her and so many things fell into place. The amount of her confusion when he was with her, the reactions she had, and the reason why she rejected the cure. He felt a little guilty that he had taken her from it, even if she was now with him like she had described and eventually wanted. He didn't fault her for the times he thought she was thinking of his dream self; the person was exactly as he was and acted the same way...no wonder she would get confused!

 _When the guitar finished and the final piano cords played out, he twirled her one last time and then brought her close to his arms. He wrapped one arm around her waist and dipped her. His heart was beating from the excitement she produced and his usual smile was there the whole dance. She had made him feel like this and his ears drunk her laughter. They were both breathing heavily when he brought her toward him with a kiss._

He suddenly felt like the outsider while reading about the dance. She had raced past him with his dream self and he was left standing here wondering what was going on. She had been together with his dream self so happily at that and he had suddenly stepped in and yanked her to him. He had stolen her from the person she had gushed words of love to and who had reciprocated those words of love in return. He almost put the paper down, not wanting to read any more, but felt compelled to finish. There wasn't much left anyway.

He read about the most latest dream she must have had over this last night...the sadness she felt and the guilt. He was there every step of the way with her as he agonized over her words and the reactions to the one she loved. His words in return were just as hard to read. He would have done the same thing, he suddenly realized. From beginning to end, he would have acted the exact same way, felt the exact same jealousy, and demanded as much of her time. He would have done all this to her during their time together...he WANTED to do all that to her.

He quickly put the paper down when he heard the water slosh around in the other room. She must have been in the bath...he had completely forgotten she was still here! His ears picked up her movements and the sound of fabric rustling. He blushed when he assumed that she must be drying herself off.

He finished with her vow and put the pages back as he found them. He didn't know if she wanted him to know this or not yet and so he decided to keep quiet on it for now. If the opportunity presented itself later, he would reveal what he knew.

He stood and looked out to the city, trying to return his emotions to normal. He felt such a myriad of feelings that she had experienced...that his dream self had experienced. He felt all of these things and tried to figure out what he would do with this wealth of knowledge. He tucked all the words and instances of love into his heart and kept them safe there. The words of his counterpart about him floated through his head.

" _I'm not so sure of that. I freaked out, but did you see how red my face was? I was embarrassed, but then again, I often am when it comes to you."_

" _You know...I don't mind it if I'm not real...so long as I can spend this time with you..."_

" _I'm not real. No matter how many times I say it, it's still true. I truly wish that the real me would wake up to all that you have to offer and stop being such an idiot. But you know how clumsy I am with you. I don't know what to do with you. Even when you kissed the real me, I still ran away from you. Potion or no potion... From what I've pulled from your memories of my reactions, there IS something there. Please know that you really do mean so much to the real me and don't lose faith."_

" _I love you too. I always have. I always will. Just...stay with me will you? Stay with me here. Let me have all of these fun times with you. All the adventures, all the magic...let's do some more, okay? Let's break the end of this universe and do something truly amazing to this world!"_

He had never felt more exposed and open than now. His attention jolted to the door opening. He tried to keep himself from being unaffected from all those words, but it was hard. Her subconscious knew how he felt more than he did! She knew and thus fell in love with him in the dream world because she knew he'd respond. How did she know more about him than he knew of himself based on the few experiences she had with him while she was awake? She knew and she wasn't pushing him for an answer she felt he wasn't ready to give her.

He watched her towel her hair off and was thankful she wasn't able to look at him. He didn't know what he'd do if she locked eyes with him this second. He watched her stand there, knowing she was aware of him, and yet it felt natural to her now to do this with him here. She didn't mind him being in her room while she came from the bath unlike recently.

He took in her thin frame and pale skin. She had to be the most exquisite, amazing person he had ever the pleasure of knowing. Her personality was a easily match for him, her beauty was flawless, and her love was pure. She loved him for who he was and was waiting for him to find himself and catch up to her. Before he could catch himself, he strode up to her and grasped a hand. The towel flopped on the floor with a surprised cry from her. She looked at him in surprise as he gave her hand a squeeze and turned her to face him. "Let's go out to eat Lucy...just the two of us!"

She blinked at the emotion in his face, blushing a tad. "But, my hair isn't dry yet! And didn't you want to clean up?"

He waved her off. "C'mon...get your shoes on and let's go! Who cares how you look! You look fine to me. No one is going to care. We can even go out the front door like normal human beings for once!"

Her brows furrowed in dejá vu, though she barely had time to think of his words as he was practically yanking her to the front door. She had just enough time to grab a pair of shoes and tie up her hair in a horribly messy bun before he pulled her from the entryway. His fingers entwined with hers as he directed them down the stairs and outside.

He took a deep breath, suddenly appreciating the day. It was beautiful...as was the company he was with. He looked to her with a grin, suddenly feeling better than he had in ages. "Let's go!" He started down the stone street, not letting go of her hand the entire way to the restaurant.

 _Final dream inspiration: srngdrgn. deviantart art/ Caged-NaLu-410208751_


	17. Chapter 17

Getting back the normal use of her muscles took a few more days, but Natsu stayed with her the entire time. Wendy had provided a few more healing sessions whenever her magic had charged enough to do so. She was so grateful for all of the help. On the third morning after the cure, she felt well enough to attempt a trip to the guild hall. She went there with Natsu, him holding her hand the whole way. He refused to let go when they reached the front doors...although he bounded in ahead of her to announce her presence. She didn't know if it was intentional or not that he let go before anyone could see them.

The reception was loud and it was heartwarming. She hugged so many people that she felt she hadn't seen in forever. She waved off Levy's apologizes for not attempting to stop her more and all the questions about what had happened. She confided that she had recorded everything of the experience and would let her read it when things had returned to normal. She was then forced to sidetrack her friend's sheer exuberance of getting to read her story.

It was so nice to see the real guild hall and the reality of her friends. The dreams she had didn't compare and she couldn't believe she thought this could take the place of her dream world! She was more than a fool, she was ignorant as well! She spent all day talking to everyone and reassuring that she was really back and no more instances with the potion would occur. She was finally left alone hours later when everyone seemed satisfied that she was here and she was back to herself.

It was just at the time in which she thought she could take a second to herself when master approached her. He asked her for more details concerning the spell that she experienced and to give as many as possible. She recanted the physical feelings it created, the confusion, the dream world she had come to control, the changing of memories to suit her emotions, the acceptance of it as reality, and the application of the cure and what had happened to her.

She accepted his words of reproach, feeling rightly chastised for thinking mere past memories and dreams could replace her real friends. She smiled nervously when he told her never to meddle with such magic again. She remembered her words to dream Natsu and the vow she had made and didn't promise her guild master for certain that she wouldn't attempt anything else.

She subtly wormed her way into getting her hands on the pages given to Freed from the writer. She looked at them, asking Mira to leave her in the basement for a minute so she could look at everything in peace and quiet. Mira nodded. "Master really doesn't want you messing with that again so I'll be back shortly to take the pages from you."

She waited till Mira had left the library and the door clicked close. Silence descended as her eyes locked on the scrawl. She was floored at what she found out to be the true purpose of taking the potion in the first place. More pieces of the puzzle merged with the information in her dreams and seemed to fit. She read everything front to back and finally looked at the bookshelf across the way. It was incredible and not something she should have ever messed with! After coming to know all this, she honestly didn't know if it was a good idea to go hunting for a way to free dream Natsu. Attempting anything else with this may prove dangerous.

A suddenly glow came from below and she looked to the pages in her hands. Words on the back of a page, a supposed blank page, formed right before her eyes in the same handwriting. She quickly glanced to the doorway as if she were going to be caught. Finding herself alone, she scanned the words for this hidden information that was suddenly being presented to her.

"To the one who has created the potion and opened the door to the subconscious... If these words are being read, that means you have the dream magic still within you. If you wish to master this skill, as it is possible you may relapse if not properly trained, I have written my location for you just in case. I will await your arrival...should it happen..."

She sat back in the seat. As she read each word, it disappeared again and now there was nothing on the pages to allude to secret information...save for the name of the writer and the town in which Freed had gone to. She mumbled the name and location, knowing it would be stored in her mind and that too disappeared.

She was still trying to pick her brain up with Mira walked back in mere moments later. She handed over the pages, not able to explain herself out of what she had learned and demanded to meet with master in private. She asked Mira to get him and bring him here to the library and to keep Natsu from knowing.

She paced the entire time she waited. Would he let her go? She had to hope that she would be allowed. She didn't want to have to sneak away because her absence would be noticed, especially when Natsu would make a fuss about her being gone. Hands clasped behind her back as her mind whirled. She could be trained...the writer was willing to train her...she had a name and a place to go and get answers...she had a possible way to undue the restraint on dream Natsu and free him!

She stopped and closed her eyes. 'Do you hear me Natsu? I may have just found a lead to cure you! Wait for me please! I know you can hear me!'

"Lucy? You wanted to talk to me about those pages?"

Her head whipped to the floor where Makarov was. She waited till he sat on the table before starting in. Her fists clenched as she called forth all the courage dream Natsu could lend her. Her words were already carefully chosen to aid her. She looked at him in all seriousness. "I found more information on those pages from the writer! I was informed that it's possible to relapse if not properly trained to master this power. I'm asking for your permission to go to the writer and finish learning so I don't inconvenience the guild as I've already done!" She paused a second to let some of it sink in before taking a step to him. "Please master!"

Makarov heaved a sigh and looked down, arms crossing. He was silent for what seemed forever before patting the table next to him. "Come sit down Lucy." She did as told and kept looking at him with expectant eyes. All was silent as she let him come to a conclusion. "The last week has been very hard on everyone. We were thrown a piece of lost magic that no one had ever heard of before and we feared we had lost you." They locked eyes. "I don't think we could stand it if you fell back to where we couldn't help you. There seems to be only one person who can truly keep you safe."

Her eyes widened, heart fluttering. Did that mean... "Master...you mean..."

He finally nodded. "I will allow this further training." A finger shot in her face, wagging a little. "However! I don't want you to use it! It's strong magic with a heavy weakness! Your physical body pays a huge price for heavy use of your mind. You're only going to learn it so that you won't ever be burdened by it ever again, you understand?"

She eagerly nodded. Dream Natsu would be freed and she would never have to worry about scaring real Natsu ever again! She clasped his hands, shaking them a little in her excitement. "I understand! I understand completely! Thank you! I'm going to leave right now!"

"What are you going to do about Natsu?"

She paused mere steps away when his name was mentioned. She had forgotten about that contingency... "He can't know master...not until I'm gone at least... I know he wouldn't want me going. If he doesn't know where I am, then he won't be able to interrupt."

"Freed knows where this person is. Natsu knows that Freed knows."

"I'm sure Freed will be able to keep him away." She refused to hear anything else as her mind whirled with a plan. "I'll get it taken care of. I'll return as quickly as I can!"

She hurried upstairs and cornered Freed to discuss what she had found out. She got a little information from him, not finding him surprised at this hidden knowledge. The writer must have mentioned something about it or Freed must have witnessed the hidden writing. She informed him of her plan and to try and keep himself from Natsu as much as he could, since Natsu would target him in order to get information from him.

Once she and Freed had discussed everything and worked out a plan, she snuck from the guild hall after finding Natsu in the midst of his never-ending battles with Gray. She took it as the perfect opportunity to get to the train station. She had the money to do this and she had nothing else she wanted to take with her. Her feet ran with all the hope and trepidation of being caught. She barely stopped the entire way, only because she was still too weak to be able to do the full run.

She felt a little bad at boarding the train. She was worried that Natsu would track her down and keep her from going. She needed to do this; she HAD to do this! If doing this would perfect her ability to once again change the dream world as she had before, then she would do so and free dream Natsu from the barrier that had been created and she would come back to real Natsu as soon as she was done.

0101010

Anyone could understand Natsu's emotions when he found out that Lucy had disappeared from the guild and then why she left. They didn't fault him for not knowing where she was hours after she had gone to the library. They tried to placate him and keep him from going after her. Makarov had given a chunk of information from the conversation with Lucy before she left. They all knew that he was mad, possibly livid even. After all the stress and worry he had gone through, the lack of sleep, and the frantic search to save her...no one wanted to stop his rage.

He was livid. His blood boiled and he actually wanted to throttle her. He rampaged through the hall, literally breathing fire and causing property damage to the room. All of the S class wizards and his closest friends attempted to soothe him and then restrain him and he fought them all with every ounce of anger in his body. He screamed at them as he tried to get outside and to the train station.

He had confronted Freed about where the writer lived, but Freed merely gave details of his conversation with Lucy as they had discussed. Details which meant not telling Natsu the location and a message from her that he was to await her return, as horrible as she knew it would be, and not to find her. He had attempted to pummel Freed into the ground until Laxus electrocuted him and stopped him.

Master had finally smashed him into the ground with an enlarged hand from his place at the bar. The hall was repaired as everyone left Natsu passed out in the crater master made with him. He remained passed out for most of the day and part of the evening...not because he had been hit so hard, but he was still not back to himself and was still exhausted. The beating from the guild and the hit from the powerful guild master only tired him more. The force of his own emotions piled on and thus he slept soundly. The guild decided not to wake him and just left him as he was until next morning.

When he did wake, Gray and Erza were poking him to see how he was. He batted them away and sat up, rubbing his aching back. He demanded information and the pair recanted yesterday's highlights for him...fairly riling him up again. He stood to go after his precious Lucy, but Erza knocked him back on the floor before he even got two steps away from her.

"Calm down and think Natsu." She ordered, standing. She looked at him as he sat on the floor and rub his head. "Lucy left to better her ability in order to control this new power. She is inexperienced right now and she went on a journey to learn about it from the one person who can help her. What are you going to do if you barge in on her studying? Are you going to drag her back here where she may be afflicted by it again?"

He sulked on the ground as Erza's words sunk in. He knew she was right, but that didn't mean he had to accept it. He looked over when Gray kneeled next to him, smirking. He glared at his magic counterpart, not wanting to get into it, even if a fight would take his mind off the issue.

"Think you idiot. Lucy has to do this! After all we've looked, the guild doesn't have any information about the book the writer made! The only way we saved her was by Freed traveling to the writer and getting that cure personally."

He didn't want to hear such logic from Gray! A hand reached out and punched him square in the chest, only feeling a tad better when the mage was knocked flat on his butt with a cry.

As if hearing his name, Freed materialized above and he locked eyes from his headlock by Gray. "Everyone is right Natsu. This is not your place to butt in and interrupt Lucy. I saw what the writer added to the letter that none of you saw. He put down instructions specifically for her to find; not us. He wanted her to go to him. Why would you keep her from doing what needs to be done?"

"AH! I got it...I got it already! Enough lecturing!" He stood and brushed himself off, hand scrubbing his hair in irritation. He started heading for the main exit door.

Erza took a step in his direction. "Where are you going Natsu?"

"I'm just going home for now so I don't have to listen to all of you!"A hand waved in the air before both clasped behind his head. "I won't go after her already! Sheesh..." He stopped at the doorway and looked up to the sky. The day was perfect; blue skies and nice temperature. So why did he just glare back at it? Because Lucy wasn't here to enjoy this with him...

'AH! You idiot!' He took off in a dead run for his house, jumping around people and avoiding everyone entirely. He didn't stop until he reached the front door, chest heaving. He wanted to wear himself out so he didn't have the energy to be this annoyed and worried. He thought he was done with it and here he was again...going through it!

He opened the door to his empty house. He had left Happy at the guild, but Happy was hanging around Charle and he had no right to interrupt. His hand squeezed on the knob, feeling jealous. After everything those two had been through, Charle was finally becoming a little more amiable toward his friend and he was glad. Happy was a great cat and he deserved to be able to find someone special.

He slammed the door shut with all his might at that thought. The sound rang through the house and vibrated the walls from the sheer force that he applied. After everything THEY had been through, HE had finally found someone special and just as he was getting used to the idea and ready to spend some serious time with her, she upped and vanished on him! He still wanted to go after her, but where did he start? There was no way he could smell her out after such a long time. Any scent he would find had to be fresh within the last few hours. Had he not been knocked out, he might have had a chance.

He was getting nowhere fast except angering himself. He whipped around and yanked the door open and left the quiet. He didn't want to be here by himself with all these thoughts and feelings and loss surrounding him. He ran to a clearing in the woods close to where he practiced and threw his head back. He threw a column of fire into the sky so thick that it almost touched the nearby trees. When his air ran out, he slumped to the ground and tried to catch his breath.

"Damn it...damn you...why did you have to go and do this?! I thought you said you'd stay here with me?!"

" _You once asked me to stay with you and I accepted. I could never leave you. I wouldn't survive to be apart from you for so long. So I ask this of you now: stay with me here and now. It's over. I'm back Natsu...and I have you to thank for everything."_

His fists pounded the ground, not feeling the pain and yet relishing in it. He almost thought she was lying to him, except she said that celestial mages couldn't lie. Did she really mean those words? Did she forget them?! After everything they had been through in just a day, he thought that she had meant everything...that she was truthful when she said she was back. She had just disappeared so that she could go back to that accursed dream world! He had read everything and he knew what she had experienced. She wasn't going back to the his dream self was she?!

He suddenly remembered the last few pages of her most recent dream in which she had been cut off from his dream self. His eyes widened as he stared at the earth.

" _I will free you." She promised, looking him in the eye. "I'll find this person and figure out what happened. This isn't the end of you...of us."_

He stood up and directed all possible jealous anger through his fist at the nearest tree. It splintered and broke, falling over onto another. He listened to it fall and watched it, though he hardly heard it. He tried to catch his breath and calm down. He ran through that scenario in his head, trying to think of her true motives for it.

Not the end of them... As in the end of a relationship which had passed between them while she was asleep? He didn't think it felt right to share her with anyone...even if it was himself. He wanted Lucy all to himself and he wanted to not only do all the things she had experienced with his dream self, but he wanted to one up his dream counterpart and do so many more things that involved the future. The dream him could only give her things related to the past, but the real him...he could give a her future if she so wanted it.

Hands clutched his hair, pulling in the agony of his thoughts. He wasn't doing anything by working himself up over random thoughts and memories that she had. He had no idea why she left other than to perfect this new craft of hers. Whatever she did in the meantime he would be left in the dark on until she returned...whenever that was. She was now out of his reach for an undetermined amount of time. He had no idea how long she would be gone; Freed never mentioned. Given that Freed wasn't gone long, he could only assume that the location wasn't very far away.

" _Okay... I trust you, Natsu."_

He heaved a sigh and fell back to the ground to stare at the sky. His arms spread out, hand throbbing. He had to trust her or he would just go insane here with worry and wonder.

" _I more than trust you Natsu...I love you. I already told you this."_

He slowly sat up and looked to the distance for what seemed forever. She trusted him enough to let him apply the cure and even after such a horrible time had befallen her. Despite that, she didn't hold the pain against him. She trusted him because she loved him. She had to know just how angry he would be if she left him without saying a word. She had weighed everything and had still gone.

He heaved a sigh. A hand ran from his hair to the front of his face, harshly pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just can't keep up with you...you idiot..." His hand dropped in his lap, useless. He heaved another sigh and plopped back onto the ground and stared at the blue sky. "Okay...I give! I'll wait here! But you better hurry back to me because I'm going to yell your ear off when you do, you hear me? I'm going to yell at you and then I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again!"


	18. Chapter 18

A week passed and he finally went on a mission. He didn't want to, but he was running out of food money and he realized that she wasn't going to have anything for rent if he didn't. He liked hanging out in her apartment because it was homey and comfortable. He went there a few times to take in her smell and the memories when he was especially bored and wanted to feel her near.

Two more weeks passed, a total of three, and she still hadn't returned. He was practically living in her apartment and reread her story twice. He had kept telling himself she was only going to help his dream self from the imprisonment that had befallen him due to the cure. It was the only way he was going to stay sane and not envision her running into the arms of his dream self and leave him behind.

An entire month passed with absolutely no word from her. No letters had been sent to the guild nor her landlady. He allowed himself to worry at this point. An entire month was too long with no word. He didn't want to fear the worst, but he couldn't help it. He knew what had happened to her the first time she had gone too deep into the spell and for all he knew, she had failed the second time around. He kept telling himself that things would be okay, but it was hard to wait it out like this! He wasn't a person to just sit idly by at home and yet here he was forced to!

He had paid her rent for the next month from another mission and thus felt entitled to stay in the room. He ended a mission which he had picked mostly because he knew she would have wanted to and decided to stay in her place that night because he missed her. Being away from her so long was weighing on his heart and his emotions were going crazy. He longed for her the less she was around and although he had plenty of time to go over all these thoughts in his head...he was done doing so. He had made his decision and she was nowhere nearby to tell!

He plopped in her bed and stared out at the sky. The moon was full as it was the night she had come back to him from the dream world. He closed his eyes and thought about it, the words she had said, the feel of her body, and the softness of her lips. He wanted so bad to take her in his arms and hold her again and smell the scent of her hair. All he had to content himself with for now was her pillow that was losing its potency the longer his head was there instead of hers.

A sudden jolt to his vision happened and his head shook. What was that? A hand came to his face, rubbing his eyes. There was a little bit of tension behind his eyes as they suddenly felt strained. His head hurt a little as well. He sat up and sudden dizziness overtook him. "What...the hell...?" The world shook mercilessly and he was forced to close his eyes. He barely managed to stick an arm out to catch his fall back onto her mattress. "What's...going...on?" He clutched at the mattress, feeling how soft it was. "Lucy..." His head landed and he almost passed out. He struggled to stay awake and stared at the shadows of her things in the dark. "Lu -" Darkness swallowed him up and everything went black.

 _Darkness greeted him from everywhere. He whirled around, but it was the same. What was this?! Where was he?! What had happened to him? He just was in Lucy's room trying to content himself with her smell and the familiarity of her place while she was gone and then he suddenly passed out!_

" _I'm_ _sorry_ _about_ _that...I_ _hope_ _it_ _wasn't_ _too_ _traumatic_ _for_ _you._ _I'm_ _still_ _not_ _that_ _good_ _at_ _this_ _yet..."_

 _He whipped to the direction of the voice. His eyes widened. "Lucy!? Is that you? What's going on here? Where are you?!" He searched the darkness, but he didn't see her. Somehow, he knew she was here because he could sense her and a thread of magic weaving all around him, although he didn't know what it was._

 _He felt a small twinge of hesitation, but it wasn't coming from him. It permeated the darkness and his eyes narrowed in confusion at it. "I...I didn't plan on doing this, but master said it should be okay... I wanted to give you an update so you didn't worry anymore than I knew you already were."_

" _Damn_ _straight_ _I'm_ _worried!_ _Where_ _in_ _the_ _hell_ _am_ _I?!_ _What_ _did_ _you_ _do?_ _Where_ _did_ _you_ _go?!_ _Why_ _have_ _you_ _been_ _gone_ _so_ _long?!" He_ _kept_ _turning_ _and_ _turning,_ _hoping_ _that_ _one_ _of_ _the_ _revolutions_ _would_ _show_ _her_ _beautiful_ _face_ _his_ _way._

 _There was a huge wave of embarrassment; again not coming from him. Were these Lucy's emotions? Why was he feeling them? This was weird! "Show yourself! I want to see your face! Do you even know how long it's been since you left Magnolia? How dare you just up and leave after everything you said?!"_

" _I_ _know...I'm_ _sorry_ _Natsu._ _It's_ _taken_ _me_ _a_ _lot_ _longer_ _than_ _I_ _thought_ _to_ _learn_ _this._ _There's_ _so_ _much_ _more_ _to_ _this_ _magic_ _than_ _I_ _thought!_ _This_ _is_ _some_ _pretty_ _hard_ _core_ _magic._ _I_ _guess_ _that's_ _why_ _they_ _call_ _it_ _lost_ _magic."_

 _He was not amused, even if it was all around him. His fists clenched. "Lucy...I'm not in the mood for jokes here. Did you put me here? How did you do that? I'm not going to be stuck here am I?"_

" _I_ _promise_ _you_ _that_ _you'll_ _be_ _fine._ _I'm_ _under_ _strict_ _instruction_ _of_ _a_ _master._ _You've_ _nothing_ _to_ _worry_ _about." She_ _paused,_ _teeth_ _nibbling_ _a_ _lip_ _a_ _little. "I...kind_ _of_ _wanted_ _to_ _wait_ _till_ _I_ _got_ _back...but_ _if_ _you_ _want_ _to_ _see_ _me_ _so_ _badly...I_ _suppose_ _I_ _could_ _grant_ _your_ _request..."_

 _He suddenly felt an overwhelming presence and affection. He turned to it and all anger left him. Any emotion other than awe flooded his system as he stared at her. His arms remained dead at his sides as he took in the sheer image of heavenly beauty in front of him._

 _Lucy was in front of him; his Lucy. She was in a pure white dress, all frilly and flowy. Rose patterns adorned the puffy skirt, sequins all over the halter top. It showed her amazing cleavage. Over her arms rested delicate chains of pearls...the same ones that adorned her neck. Her hair was up in a bun with her typical bangs and front chunks of hair hiding her ears. A pair of diamond earrings adorned her ears...different from her ever-present heart ones._

 _He couldn't move...couldn't speak. He could only take in her glorious, gorgeous figure and what she was wearing. She was absolutely breathtaking and he wondered briefly if she was an angel come to him. He tried to ask, but words failed him. It didn't seem to matter as a magnificent smile abruptly lit her face, along with a blush...even though he hadn't said anything._

 _She_ _smiled_ _and_ _floated_ _closer_ _to_ _him. "Thank_ _you..." She_ _murmured,_ _eyes_ _demurely_ _lowered_ _as_ _she_ _stopped_ _short_ _of_ _him._ _Her_ _eyes_ _glinted_ _once_ _they_ _met_ _his_ _again. "You_ _have_ _to_ _be_ _careful_ _what_ _you_ _think_ _and_ _feel_ _in_ _here,_ _okay?_ _I_ _entered_ _into_ _your_ _dream_ _and_ _as_ _the_ _one_ _in_ _control_ _here,_ _I_ _can_ _tell_ _everything_ _that_ _you_ _think_ _and_ _feel. Because I have control, my subconscious has some connection with yours and thus you can feel what I feel." She_ _looked_ _sheepishly_ _happy. "If - if_ _you_ _want_ _an_ _angel...I_ _can_ _comply_ _though..."_ _A_ _pair_ _of_ _huge,_ _pure_ _white_ _wings_ _sprouted_ _from_ _her_ _back_ _down_ _to_ _the_ _tips_ _of_ _her_ _dress._ _She_ _flapped_ _them_ _about_ _a_ _few_ _times,_ _bringing_ _one_ _up_ _to_ _his_ _face_ _and_ _batting_ _the_ _tip_ _of_ _her_ _wing_ _at_ _his_ _nose._ _She_ _giggled_ _when_ _he_ _pushed_ _it_ _away_ _halfheartedly,_ _knowing_ _he_ _was_ _still_ _at_ _a_ _loss_ _as_ _to_ _what_ _was_ _going_ _on_ _and_ _totally_ _amazed_ _at_ _what_ _she_ _was_ _doing._ _She_ _reached_ _out_ _and_ _grabbed_ _his_ _hand. "I_ _missed_ _you_ _Natsu..."_

 _Her_ _words_ _snapped_ _him_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _cloud_ _his_ _mind_ _was_ _in._ _He_ _reached_ _out_ _and_ _clutched_ _her_ _to_ _his_ _chest._ _She_ _felt_ _so_ _good_ _and_ _he_ _swore_ _he_ _could_ _smell_ _her_ _scent,_ _even_ _in_ _this_ _place._ _He_ _leaned_ _his_ _head_ _against_ _hers,_ _feeling_ _all_ _the_ _strain_ _and_ _worry_ _from_ _the_ _last_ _month_ _roll_ _off_ _his_ _shoulders._ _He_ _idly_ _listened_ _to_ _the_ _tinkling_ _of_ _the_ _jewelry_ _on_ _her_ _arms_ _clash_ _as_ _she_ _moved._ _He_ _felt_ _even_ _better_ _when_ _she_ _clutched_ _him_ _back._ _"I_ _missed_ _you_ _too..." He_ _mumbled,_ _feeling_ _seriously_ _embarrassed._ _This_ _was_ _a_ _dream_ _and_ _the_ _two_ _of_ _them_ _were_ _the_ _only_ _ones_ _here,_ _yet_ _he_ _still_ _hadn't_ _the_ _ability_ _to_ _be_ _truly_ _honest_ _with_ _himself_ _or_ _her_ _about_ _how_ _he_ _felt. "Lucy..._ _I_ _-"_

 _She pulled back, an all-knowing smile on her face. "I know Natsu. I know." Her hand squeezed his shoulder. "The second I connected to your subconscious...I knew." Her eyes teared as her hand reached up and cupped his cheek. "You don't need to say anything. I know. I'm glad I was right. I'm glad I believed in you and waited for you."_

 _He placed his hand over hers, drowning in the beauty of her brown eyes. He could feel such things here that didn't belong to him. They were Lucy's emotions and he was overwhelmed by them. "Lucy... I want to tell you. It's not fair to you. You deserve to hear the actual words."_

 _She put fingers over his mouth and halted him. "Then you can wait and tell me face to face when I return." She pressed her hand against his mouth when he tried to speak. "I've waited this long. I always knew and I had faith in you. I can wait a little longer to hear them from you." Her face suddenly flushed. "And I think...when I return...I may be able to give you something special..." Her head quickly shook. "But for now... I want to give you something to remember whenever you fall asleep. Something to tide you over until I do return... All you need to do is think of me and it'll come to you, okay?"_

 _He was suddenly unable to move, though he tried. Was she doing this? He watched as her hands floated up to cover his cheeks. Her face slowly got closer. He was suddenly unable to feel any of her emotions in this place, but the second her mouth tenderly touched his, everything flooded into his being in full force. Her lips were warm and soft and she poured everything into the kiss. Her love, her lust, her friendship, how great she thought he was,_ _the sorrow of what she had put him through,_ _the days where she missed him, and the excitement for when she knew she'd return._

 _He finally pulled away, gasping from the sheer magnitude of everything. She let him go and he trembled at it all, trying to take it in. Had it not come from her personally, he could scarcely believe it. Lucy had shared her true emotions with him. He knew this somehow and had a feeling such a thing would stay with him. It would because she would make it so._

 _She chuckled a little at his reaction, eyes full of love. She watched him for a second as she let his mind try to process what she felt for him this whole time. "Now you know." She murmured, pulling back a little. "Just consider it thanks for paying my rent for me." She kissed her fingers and put them over his. "I love you Natsu. I'm sorry this is taking so long. I do look forward to when I can truly touch you again."_

 _In_ _the_ _blink_ _of_ _an_ _eye,_ _the_ _outfit_ _she_ _was_ _wearing_ _and_ _the_ _scenery_ _changed_ _and_ _she_ _was_ _no_ _longer_ _near_ _him._ _A_ _field_ _of_ _tall_ _grass_ _surrounded_ _him_ _and_ _a_ _mostly_ _sunny_ _sky_ _replaced_ _the_ _darkness._ _The_ _wind_ _blew_ _silently._ _She_ _was_ _sitting_ _up_ _high_ _on_ _a_ _white_ _railing_ _in_ _a_ _different_ _outfit._ _It_ _was_ _a_ _cute,_ _knee-length_ _white_ _spring_ _dress._ _Spaghetti_ _straps_ _held_ _it_ _up_ _and_ _showed_ _off_ _a_ _little_ _cleavage._ _White_ _ribbons_ _wrapped_ _up_ _her_ _forearms_ _and_ _ballerina_ _slippers_ _with_ _matching_ _ribbons_ _laced_ _around_ _her_ _calves_ _to_ _her_ _knees._ _One_ _hand_ _held_ _onto_ _the_ _railing,_ _the_ _other_ _on_ _a_ _hat_ _oddly_ _matching_ _his_ _hair_ _color._ _Her_ _hair_ _was_ _wild_ _and_ _flowed_ _around_ _her._

 _She was really pretty and he liked it. He had to smile at how she had taken control of this place, showed him so many things, and had dazzled him with this power in what felt the span of mere seconds. She suddenly smiled, having probably read those thoughts, but he didn't care. It was the truth and she deserved all the praise for this truly awesome ability she now possessed. He wanted to have her show him more, perhaps what she had experienced with his dream self and all the things she wrote about, whenever they had the chance next._

 _Her eyes turned a little annoyed as they narrowed his way. "I know it's too late to say this but," a finger whipped out through the wind blowing behind her, "don't read that story anymore! And don't let anyone else find it okay? It's...really embarrassing! I only promised to show it to Levy-chan and that's it! I didn't think to cover it up before you saw it, so that's my fault, but I didn't really mean for you to read it!"_

 _He had forgotten that he didn't want to let her know that he knew about it. But it was pointless the second she stepped into his brain. "Too late now." He grinned._

" _You_ _never_ _were_ _good_ _at_ _telling_ _jokes_ _you_ _know..."_

" _I know that, but I still try don't I?" The words popped out of his mouth before he had thought them. He blinked at them, wondering where he had heard them before._

 _She snorted and shook her head. "I'll take my leave now. I'll seek you out when I know you're already asleep, okay? I'll leave a piece of my subconscious here for you. If you need me again, just think of me as you go to sleep and I'll hear you. I won't force you to the dream world anymore Natsu."_

She disappeared and his eyes popped open. He sat up and looked around her room, feeling disconnected to reality and groggy. He didn't get a chance to yell at her for her causing him to pass out in the first place. He struggled to sit up, suddenly recalling from her story that this was how she felt whenever the magic had been upon her and she switched realms. He had a new respect for her and the position she ended up taking...it was really hard and he could see the allure of the dream world now. She had done so many amazing things with merely a thought and he was kind of jealous because he wanted to do something like that too.

He stared out at the morning sky. His stomach rumbled and he knew he must have slept through breakfast. He sat on the bed and stared at the world below instead, thinking of the dream and the time he spent with Lucy. She said she would leave him with something and to think of him. He felt intense emotions and knew she had been absolutely stunning, but that's all he could remember. The more the real world greeted his eyes from below, the more he started forgetting what he dreamt.

His head turned to the side thoughtfully at that aspect. Wasn't this what she talked about in her writing? She had forgotten everything and ended up taking another potion. He suddenly felt like a total idiot after seeing so many aspects of her problem now. He had learned so much about her condition, had seen her world, and had come to understand. He fell back onto her bed, landing flush on the pillow with a sigh. He didn't blame her anymore; he blamed himself for taking all the wrong actions. "You moron..." He mumbled , throwing an arm over his eyes.

He finally got up and threw his clothes on and headed out to get something to eat. If Lucy said something about calling upon her again and she would hear, he would definitely take her up on that! The day suddenly seemed so long since he wasn't really that tired and had to wait so many hours to see her again. He would have time to eat and inform the guild of what was going on in the meantime, but that didn't take that long...so how did he want to spend his day?

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Most of his day he passed by training to kill time. He went and challenged Gray, feeling mostly bored throughout as they exchanged blows. Once the afternoon was starting to wear to a close, he got some food and ran back to her apartment for later. Then he went and ran around the town mindlessly to hurry and tire himself out so he would be able to pass out quicker. With as excited as he was to try this again and as anxious as he was to see Lucy, he knew sleeping would be a problem otherwise.

He stumbled into her room and collapsed on her bed. He knew she wasn't going to like him laying on her bed all sweaty, and she would probably find out before she got back too. He dragged himself into her bathroom to clean up quickly. He left his dirty clothes on the floor and grabbed a change he had been keeping in her apartment the last few weeks. That done, not wanting to be yelled at and fearing the punishment she would inflect while he was asleep, he plopped on her bed again and buried himself under her comforter.

Just think of her and she would know he was calling out to her? That's what she said right? It was hard to remember the exact words so he focused on the image he mostly remembered. He tried to picture the exact details of the dress she had worn that he could recall was just amazing on her. "Lucy...I hope you're listening wherever you are. I'm bored without you here...Why don't we go do something fun in my dream?" He closed his eyes and tried to focus on going to sleep.

 _Darkness was all around him. He turned in every direction, but it was all the same. "Lucy? Hey, Lucy! Where are you?" A flood of warmth and love invaded every sense he had and he knew she heard him. He turned in every direction, trying to find her. "Where are you Lucy? Hey! Show yourself!"_

" _Tsk,_ _tsk...you're_ _so_ _impatient._ _But_ _then,_ _you_ _always_ _were." She_ _appeared_ _in_ _a_ _basic_ _pair_ _of_ _shorts_ _and_ _t-shirt._ _She_ _smiled_ _at_ _him_ _and_ _floated closer in_ _the_ _darkness._ _Her_ _eyes_ _turned_ _playful_ _as_ _she_ _smiled. "You_ _couldn't_ _even_ _wait_ _one_ _day_ _for_ _me,_ _huh?"_

 _He took the quick chance and hugged her before she read into his thoughts or emotions. "I'm bored without you around. Hurry back already!"_

 _She snorted and pushed away, shaking her head. "I said I'll come back when I'm done with this training." She reiterated. "I know you didn't remember much after you woke up because I had pulled you here without help of a potion and you don't have practice remembering dreams, but work with me here a little will you?"_

 _He grabbed her hands and grinned. "Let's do something fun! What do you want to do today?"_

 _She was not going to tell him that his dream counterpart had already said those words to her. She merely smiled and created Magnolia and the two of them standing in her apartment. "You once said that you wanted me to tell you about what I dreamed about. Well...how would you like to go flying?"_

 _His eyes widened, but he was skeptical. "Um...if this has to do with transportation, count me out!"_

 _Her eyes rolled as she opened the window with a thought. "You'll be doing this on your own you know and you're not transportation so look at it that way. If you have serious trouble with it, I'll take care of it and make it so you can't get sick." She floated a few feet from him and held out a hand. "Ready?"_

 _He was entranced and grasped her hand. Excitement was pumping through him the second he touched her fingers and she pulled him to the air. He had flown with aid of his fire magic, but this was totally unlike anything he had ever done before. He really liked it! They floated through the window and down near the ground. He grinned and let go of her hand to take off in a steep arc into the air. "I could get used to this!" He announced, flying back to her._

 _She smiled as he circled her. She waited until he stopped before she circled him, brushing her fingers over him as he had once done to her. She stayed just out of his attempts to grab her for a few more seconds before her fingers touched his scarf and unraveled it. She floated away and re-wrapped it around her neck. "I missed wearing this." She mused, already backing away and preparing to flee._

 _He_ _snapped_ _to_ _and_ _took_ _after_ _her. "Hey!_ _Igneel_ _gave_ _me_ _that!_ _You_ _can't_ _have_ _it!"_

 _She_ _laughed_ _and_ _flew_ _high_ _into_ _the_ _sky,_ _telling_ _herself_ _to_ _go_ _faster. She_ _escaped_ _him_ _by_ _flying_ _around_ _buildings,_ _under_ _bridges,_ _and_ _into_ _the_ _air._ _This_ _was_ _the_ _best_ _feeling_ _in_ _the_ _world! How many times she had done this and now she was truly sharing this memory with Natsu! He was tenacious and didn't give up as they went all over Magnolia. After having crisscrossed half of the city, she could tell that the chase wasn't so much about his scarf so much as it was about catching her to deal out 'punishment'._

 _She finally let him catch her near the cherry trees in the park. They were just basic trees, but she planned on changing that. She playfully struggled in his arms, scarf whipping about, laughing all the while. "N – Natsu! Stop!"_

 _His grin turned absolutely devilish. "That's mine. You didn't ask to wear it so you should accept what's coming to you."_

 _She thought he would tickle her, being as he knew she was ticklish, but he clutched her to him and kissed her breathless. It was passionate, it was quick, and then he pulled away breathing heavily. Her mind was turned upside down and for a second, the park lost some of its luster as she tried to gather her wits about her. She remained in his hold for a second before realizing he wasn't kissing her anymore and leaned forward to continue._

 _He escaped her lips, knowingly smiling at how he had affected her. "Oh no you don't...just take your punishment like a good girl!"_

 _Her face flamed as she took his words the wrong way. He snorted when he could feel the lust coming from her. "And you always called me the pervert!" He looked close to her, looking almost wicked. "Peeerveerrttttt!"_

 _She slapped his chest and turned away, pouting a little. She awkwardly cleared her throat and looked to the trees. "Okay...so I didn't bring you here just to let you verbally abuse me." She sidetracked. "I actually wanted to have a fun experience with you that I hadn't gotten to have awake or asleep."_

 _He was interested. How was that possible? "What do you mean?" He looked around. "We're at the park. We've been here before."_

 _She smiled knowingly. "I needed a memory of yours of a certain day...a day that I missed out on. I know how sad you were that I missed out on it."_

 _He blinked, trying to recall a memory he had that she didn't of a special day in the park. He was suddenly reminded of the cherry blossom viewing day she was sick on. The second he recalled it, the trees changed to a beautiful rainbow all around them and day changed to night. The festival was going full force and the smells of food were everywhere. He whirled around at the change. "Did I do that?"_

 _She_ _smiled_ _and_ _patted_ _him_ _on_ _the_ _shoulder. "Good_ _job._ _You're_ _correct._ _I_ _missed_ _out_ _on_ _this_ _day_ _because_ _I_ _was_ _sick_ _and_ _I_ _really_ _wanted_ _to_ _see_ _it." She_ _waited_ _till_ _he_ _looked_ _at_ _her_ _again_ _after_ _all_ _the_ _distractions. "_ _I_ _seem_ _to_ _recall_ _a_ _certain_ _tree_ _floating_ _down_ _my_ _creek_ _that_ _night_ _though._ _It_ _was_ _really_ _pretty,_ _but_ _it_ _wasn't_ _here._ _It_ _wasn't_ _spending_ _time_ _with_ _everyone...with_ _you."_

 _He coughed, knowing she had figured it out the next day at the guild hall, but it didn't make him any less embarrassed all over again. A finger scratched his cheek as he blushed. "Ah...well...glad you liked it?"_

 _She smiled and grasped his hand, pulling him toward the food stands. "Come on Natsu! Let's enjoy this memory as it was meant to be enjoyed: together!"_

 _He smiled and eagerly followed her to the food stands, filling his hands with as many portable items as he could carry. They wandered around everywhere, enjoying each other's company and admiring the colors of the trees. Instead of sitting with the guild, which would probably have his past self there since he wasn't good at this, they found an empty blanket and occupied it. They munched on all the goodies they procured from her created jewels and sat up looking at everything._

 _She invited him to use her lap as a pillow, which he readily consented to and they looked up together at the leaves for the longest time, watching the wind blow them off the branches and catching a few in their hands._

 _Dress inspiration: leons-7. deviantart art /Lucy-Heartfilia-508005252_


	19. Chapter 19

She informed him a week ahead of time the day that she was finally ready to journey home. She also alluded again to a surprise that she had for him, but she refused to explain herself or talk more about it. It seemed really embarrassing and when he pestered her about it, she got really defensive and red in the face. He guessed at it being something perverted and she sputtered excuses at him and denied him...a little too quickly to be believed.

He waited and wondered all week. He had tried to contact her while asleep, but after telling him this huge surprise would happen after she returned, she only gave him fleeting words in a world of darkness and never appeared since then. He was being tortured and it was unfair! Every time he started imagining what the surprise could be, he only worked himself up worthlessly and ended up taking freezing showers in her bathroom to calm down.

He wondered just how she had known in advance that she would had finished her training by the end of that week and she had explained that she was powerful enough to contact her master through a dream if need be...as she had done with him. She was being schooled on the final touches to all the aspects of this new power she had learned and was showing everything she had learned to the master's satisfaction before she left. He was amazed that she had managed such a tremendous power in only a month and a half. He would have to have her tell him more about it when they were together.

The day she was supposed to be home, he could almost feel her presence. It was weird, but he just had a feeling that she was on her way. He attributed it to the dream he somewhat remembered from the final night where she told him to be waiting in her apartment so she knew where he was. He had grabbed a few pairs of clothes and got her pantry stocked up because he didn't want to leave once she got back. He wanted to hang out at her place for at least a day before sharing her with anyone!

The hours passed so slowly and the resolve to wait in her room was seriously wearing on him. She didn't say the hour she was going to return and he was getting really bored and anxious for her to come through the front door. The silence was deafening in the room and even working out didn't help ease his mind. He cleaned up and even after all that, he didn't smell her near.

He finished pulling on the shorts he usually wore and tossed a towel over his head. He dried the messy locks for a minute when a sudden click sounded. He paused, wondering if it was his imagination. He was still even after his ears heard the hinge creak lightly as the door swung open. The towel was yanked from his head as he looked to the entryway. "Lucy?!"

She appeared a second later after the door clicked shut. She met his eyes and smiled brightly. "Natsu!"

He hurried to her when she held her arms out for him and picked her up. He squished her against him and swung her around once, grinning like a fool. He put her back on her feet, keeping his arms around her and looked at her. She was overjoyed to see him and he could see such love in her eyes...all for him. She seemed much more mature in the face somehow, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Because of the power perhaps?

She toyed with the nape of his neck, feeling the heat he radiated. How she missed this! She missed him! Dreams really weren't the same as having the real thing hold you as tight as he was! She knew this now. "Your hair is all wet..." She mused. Not that it looked any different than usual given how messy it always was.

"I was working out to pass the time and figured you didn't want to hug me all sweaty when you got back." He grinned when she giggled and finally let her go. She didn't carry anything with her other than the clothes on her back, which smelt like they had been worn for a while. "You smell like you could use a shower yourself."

She slapped his chest, although she mentally agreed. "Why don't you go put the towel away while I change?" She stepped away, already heading to her dresser.

He grabbed it off the floor and stopped to look at her back. "You're not going to shower first?"

She paused, mind pensive and seriously sidetracked. "I will later..." She mumbled, kneeling and going for a change of clothes.

He shrugged and headed into her bathroom. He tossed the towel on the rack to dry and gave it a few extra seconds so she would change. They hadn't arrived at this yet and he didn't want to go ruining this lightheartedness. Now that she was back, whatever she intended on doing with him, he was clueless to and so he had to follow her lead. He would do what he was used to for now and change it up later once she told him more.

His mind started to wander as he idly picked up the sounds of rustling fabric. It didn't help his imagination and his heart picked up a little. All he had to do was walk on the other side of the wall and he would see her. Not that he hadn't already seen everything more than once, but those times had always been accidental and they hadn't arrived at such a place as they were in now. If he saw her now, he may not be able to contain himself!

He rapidly shook his head to the point of hurting his neck and dared step to the doorway when the sounds stopped. "Are you ready already?"

She walked to the doorway and threw it wide, revealing her basic shorts and t-shirt. There was nothing special about what she had on. She smiled at him. "Thank you for waiting." She grabbed his hand and took him over to her bed. "I had been practicing this technique the last two weeks before I came home so I could perfect it. I didn't want anything bad to happen now that I'm away from master."

His mind was cloudy. They were standing in front of her bed, holding hands! His mind reeled for a second, despite having been in her bed and having slept next to her many a time. "Uh huh..." He looked to her and found her pondering attention on him. "What are you going to do?" He suddenly found himself wary here with her.

She swallowed harshly at the look in his eyes of desire...whether he knew it was there or not. She almost thought she couldn't do this, but strengthened her resolve and waved to the bed. "Lay down on your back and get comfy." She waited while he slowly did so with baited breath. She could see the tension in his back and choppy movements and didn't fault him for this. Teeth bit her lip, ready to tear it off, as she swallowed again and then sat next to him on the bed. "I'm going to put us to sleep Natsu." She stated, saying nothing more.

His mouth opened to ask just what she meant when she abruptly straddled his waist and leaned forward a little to put her hands on his cheeks. His body went rigid, eyes flew open, and his mouth clamped shut. His mind blanked and rational thought was impossible. His heart sped up so quickly it almost hurt and he couldn't catch his breath. WHAT THE HELL!?

She almost lost the will to do the spell at the look in his eyes. She knew that this looked seriously compromising, but this was the safest way to do this. They would both fall asleep in order to reach the dream world at the same time and thus she would also be incapacitated. There was no way she would be able to support him physically once he became dead weight. This truly was the safest spot for both of them. She couldn't help herself from getting worked up, but by the look of his bare chest heaving, she had to catch up to him!

She sat up on her legs and hovered over him to connect their foreheads. "I'm going to put us to sleep okay?" She murmured. She didn't wait for a response. "Slip into subconsciousness."

He rapidly noted his vision blackening and everything become heavy. His consciousness was being pulled at so quick he had no way to question what was going on or fight it. His eyes slid closed, head slumping over. His body went limp and a second later, hers did as well. She fell over his chest, also unconscious.

 _There_ _was_ _blackness_ _all_ _around_ _again._ _Why_ _did_ _it_ _always_ _start_ _out_ _this_ _way? "Lucy? Hey! Lucy!" He_ _looked_ _around,_ _somehow_ _knowing_ _that_ _if_ _he_ _was_ _here_ _then_ _she_ _would_ _be_ _as_ _well. "Where_ _are_ _you_ _this_ _time?_ _Heeeeeeey!" Suddenly,_ _he_ _turned_ _in_ _another_ _direction_ _to_ _find_ _her_ _hovering_ _near_ _him...stark_ _naked._ _His_ _face_ _flamed_ _and_ _he_ _sputtered,_ _trying_ _to_ _figure_ _out_ _what_ _was_ _going_ _on. "Wh – wh – what_ _are_ _you_ _doing?!"_

 _She_ _slowly_ _neared_ _him,_ _testing_ _the_ _waters._ _Hands_ _clasped_ _in_ _front_ _of_ _her_ _chest_ _nervously,_ _fingers_ _toying_ _with_ _each_ _others._ _She_ _couldn't_ _help_ _but_ _feel_ _seriously_ _self-conscious_ _about_ _the_ _whole_ _thing,_ _even_ _after_ _so_ _many conversations with_ _dream_ _Natsu_ _as_ _to_ _how_ _she_ _would_ _approach_ _this. "Natsu..."_

" _Why_ _are_ _you_ _naked?" He_ _couldn't_ _get_ _his_ _brain_ _to_ _work_ _and_ _he_ _backed_ _up_ _on_ _instinct._ _Every_ _past_ _experience_ _came_ _back_ _to_ _him_ _and_ _he_ _suddenly_ _feared_ _getting_ _beat_ _up_ _here._

" _You don't see her for almost two months, she's finally ready to do this with YOU, and you act this way?! You're_ _supposed_ _to_ _be_ _happy_ _about_ _this_ _you_ _moron!"_

 _He_ _was_ _suddenly_ _jolted_ _by_ _the_ _feel_ _of_ _another strong, very angry presence_ _and seriously familiar_ _voice_ _a_ _second_ _before_ _something_ _slammed_ _into_ _him_ _and_ _knocked_ _him_ _back_ _a_ _few_ _feet_ _backward._ _Arms_ _gripped_ _his_ _shirt,_ _yanking_ _him_ _to...him!_ _His_ _eyes_ _widened_ _in_ _confusion,_ _brain_ _whirling. "W – what?_ _You're_ _me!"_

" _I'm_ _not_ _you,_ _you_ _lucky_ _bastard!_ _I'm_ _just_ _an_ _illusion._ _I'm_ _the_ _dream_ _you!"_

" _You_ _said_ _you_ _wouldn't_ _show_ _up!" She_ _suddenly_ _shouted,_ _feeling_ _a_ _little_ _panicked._ _Oh_ _god,_ _if_ _those_ _two_ _started_ _talking...if dream Natsu opened his big mouth about how much advice she sought from him over this, she was never going to live this down! She_ _floated_ _over,_ _totally_ _forgetting_ _her_ _set_ _up_ _scenario,_ _and_ _grasped_ _dream_ _Natsu's_ _arm,_ _but_ _he_ _refused_ _to_ _budge. "Let_ _go_ _now!_ _Stop_ _this!_ _You_ _promised_ _me!"_

 _Dream_ _Natsu_ _looked_ _her_ _way,_ _looking_ _severely_ _annoyed. "I_ _changed_ _my_ _mind!" He_ _resisted_ _her_ _attempts. "You_ _won't_ _control_ _me_ _over_ _this._ _I'm_ _your_ _subconscious_ _and_ _you_ _gave_ _me_ _the_ _ability_ _to_ _do_ _as_ _I_ _please_ _long_ _ago!_ _I'm_ _going_ _to_ _pound_ _this ungrateful idiot_ _into_ _the_ _ground_ _before_ _I let you do what you wanted!"_

" _No!_ _Stop!_ _I_ _wouldn't_ _have_ _brought_ _him into_ _my_ _mind_ _if_ _I_ _knew_ _you_ _were_ _going_ _to_ _show_ _up!" She_ _kept_ _trying_ _to_ _pry_ _his_ _fingers_ _off_ _real_ _Natsu's_ _shirt._ _He_ _wasn't_ _listening_ _to_ _her_ _orders_ _of_ _release_ _or_ _to_ _disappear._ _She_ _had_ _initially_ _made_ _it_ _so_ _dream_ _Natsu_ _was_ _like_ _real_ _Natsu_ _and_ _thus_ _all_ _of_ _his_ _actions_ _were_ _his_ _own_ _and_ _not_ _controlled_ _by_ _her._ _Even_ _now with_ _as_ _powerful_ _as_ _she_ _was_ _here..._

 _He_ _finally_ _snapped_ _to_ _when_ _his_ _dream_ _self_ _shook_ _him_ _again._ _Instinct_ _to_ _battle_ _took_ _over_ _and_ _he_ _twisted_ _the_ _clutching_ _hands_ _in_ _a_ _vise_ _and_ _released_ _himself. "What_ _are_ _you_ _doing_ _here?_ _I_ _thought_ _you_ _were_ _supposed_ _to_ _be_ _trapped_ _or_ _something!"_

 _Dream_ _Natsu_ _smirked_ _and_ _tensed_ _to_ _fight_ _again. "You_ _heard_ _her_ _vow._ _She_ _got_ _better_ _with_ _her_ _powers_ _and_ _freed_ _me." He_ _knew_ _this_ _was_ _going_ _to_ _make_ _things_ _difficult,_ _but_ _he_ _couldn't_ _resist. "She_ _helped_ _me_ _first_ _before_ _she bothered contacting_ _you."_

 _She_ _rushed_ _in_ _front_ _of_ _the_ _dream_ _counterpart_ _and_ _put_ _her_ _hands_ _over_ _his_ _mouth._ _He_ _batted_ _her_ _away_ _and_ _grasped_ _her_ _upper_ _arms._ _She_ _glared_ _at_ _him,_ _noting_ _his_ _smugness_ _and_ _attempted_ _to_ _hit_ _him...failing_ _against_ _his_ _strength. "Don't_ _you_ _say_ _another_ _word!_ _You're_ _making_ _this_ _more_ _complicated_ _than_ _it_ _needs_ _to_ _be!_ _You're_ _going_ _to_ _ruin_ _everything!"_

 _He_ _hovered_ _there_ _in_ _the_ _darkness,_ _watching_ _the_ _pair_ _argue_ _like_ _an_ _old_ _married_ _couple_ _and_ _suddenly_ _feeling_ _like_ _a_ _third_ _wheel._ _Lucy_ _was_ _still_ _stark_ _naked,_ _although_ _the_ _dream_ _him_ _didn't_ _seem_ _to_ _either_ _notice_ _or_ _care_ _and_ _his_ _mind_ _snapped_ _a_ _bit._ _If_ _this_ _dream_ _version_ _of_ _him_ _was_ _anything_ _like_ _the_ _real_ _him,_ _there_ _would_ _be_ _no_ _way_ _any_ _sense_ _of_ _control_ _would_ _be_ _maintained_ _by_ _being_ _that_ _close_ _to_ _her_ _unless..._ _His_ _fists_ _clenched. "You...didn't..." He hissed,_ _feeling_ _somewhat_ _betrayed._

 _She_ _whipped_ _to_ _him_ _at_ _the_ _feel_ _of_ _his_ _emotions_ _and_ _panicked._ _She_ _suddenly_ _realized_ _the_ _gravity_ _of_ _the_ _situation,_ _what_ _she_ _looked_ _like,_ _what_ _this_ _must_ _look_ _like,_ _and_ _how_ _it_ _all_ _sounded._ _The_ _clothes_ _her_ _real_ _body_ _was_ _wearing_ _suddenly_ _appeared_ _as_ _she_ _inched_ _his_ _way. "Natsu...don't_ _get_ _the_ _wrong_ _idea!_ _He_ _and_ _I_ _have_ _done_ _nothing!_ _Yes_ _I_ _freed_ _him_ _because_ _I_ _promised_ _I_ _would._ _You_ _know_ _I don't go_ _back_ _on_ _my_ _promises_ _and_ _I_ _can't_ _lie!_ _That's_ _all_ _it_ _was!" A_ _hand_ _clamped_ _down_ _on_ _her_ _shoulder_ _as_ _dream_ _Natsu_ _stopped_ _behind_ _her._ _She_ _looked_ _to_ _him,_ _not_ _liking_ _the_ _look_ _in_ _his_ _eyes. "Dream_ _Natsu..." She_ _warned,_ _getting_ _a_ _really_ _bad_ _feeling_ _about_ _this._

 _His_ _grin_ _was_ _knowing_ _and_ _practically_ _evil. Dream Natsu ignored_ _her_ _and_ _shoved_ _her_ _behind_ _him,_ _knowing_ _this_ _was_ _going_ _to_ _end_ _badly._ _But_ _he_ _didn't_ _care_ _because_ _he_ _wanted_ _a_ _little_ _revenge_ _for_ _all_ _the_ _pain_ _she_ _had_ _been_ _through_ _that_ _he_ _had_ _cleaned_ _up. "You_ _really_ _don't_ _deserve_ _her_ _you_ _know._ _She_ _had_ _been_ _perfectly_ _happy_ _to_ _stay_ _with_ _me_ _in_ _a_ _world_ _that_ _we_ _made_ _ours_ _until_ _you_ _took_ _her_ _back._ _You_ _caused_ _her_ _some_ _serious_ _pain!" A_ _fist_ _clenched_ _and_ _hovered_ _menacingly_ _between_ _them. "Do_ _you_ _know_ _how_ _much_ _damage_ _control_ _I_ _had_ _to_ _do_ _because_ _of_ _you?!_ _How_ _many_ _tears_ _I_ _had_ _to_ _dry?_ _How_ _many_ _depressed_ _looks_ _I_ _got_ _and_ _how_ _many_ _painful_ _times_ _I_ _endured_ _because_ _of_ _your_ _idiocy!?" He_ _launched_ _at_ _his_ _real_ _self,_ _eyes_ _burning. "I_ _ought_ _to_ _make_ _you_ _feel_ _what_ _she_ _felt_ _a_ _hundred-fold_ _over!" He_ _grabbed_ _the_ _shirt_ _and_ _started_ _throttling_ _his_ _counterpart. "Give_ _me_ _one_ _good_ _reason_ _as_ _to_ _why_ _you_ _deserve_ _what_ _she_ _is_ _ready_ _to_ _offer_ _you!"_

 _He_ _went_ _on_ _defense,_ _blocking_ _the_ _punch_ _meant_ _for_ _his_ _face._ _He_ _tried_ _to_ _compose_ _himself_ _and_ _worry_ _about_ _this_ _foe_ _that_ _he_ _abruptly_ _had._ _Fighting_ _himself?!_ _This_ _was_ _going_ _to_ _be_ _horrible_ _because_ _if dream Natsu was_ _a_ _collection_ _of_ _real_ _memories_ _from_ _Lucy,_ _then_ _this_ _apparition_ _would_ _have_ _all_ _of_ _his_ _battle_ _tactics!_ _Defeating_ _him_ _would_ _be_ _difficult._ _He_ _traded_ _a_ _few_ _blows,_ _not_ _getting_ _any_ _to_ _land,_ _yet easily holding_ _his_ _ground._ _He_ _didn't_ _know_ _how_ _they_ _had_ _arrived_ _at_ _this_ _and_ _why_ _he_ _was_ _suddenly_ _getting_ _beat_ _up_ _by_ _an_ _illusion,_ _but_ _he_ _didn't_ _have_ _time_ _to_ _figure_ _it_ _out!_

 _When_ _he_ _tried_ _to_ _think_ _of_ _a_ _reason,_ _there_ _was_ _one_ _glaring,_ _obvious_ _fact._ _He_ _let_ _that_ _scene_ _overpower_ _his_ _emotions_ _and_ _take_ _hold._ _He_ _managed_ _one_ _really_ _good_ _hit_ _to_ _his_ _dream_ _self,_ _glaring. "You_ _killed_ _her_ _you_ _bastard!" A_ _finger_ _pointed. "She_ _wanted_ _to_ _stay_ _with_ _you_ _and_ _it_ _killed_ _her!_ _She_ _stopped_ _breathing!_ _You_ _did_ _that_ _to_ _her!_ _What_ _makes_ _you_ _think_ _YOU_ _deserve_ _her?!"_

 _Her_ _mouth_ _dropped_ _open,_ _eyes_ _widening. "Wh...what?_ _When_ _did_ _that_ _happen?"_

 _He_ _looked_ _to_ _her. "I_ _heard_ _you_ _say_ _something_ _about_ _staying_ _with_ _him._ _A_ _second_ _after_ _that,_ _your_ _heart_ _stopped_ _and_ _you_ _died!"_

 _The_ _memory_ _suddenly_ _showed_ _up_ _all_ _around_ _them at the sheer severity of his feelings toward that memory._ _The_ _trio_ _stood_ _in_ _her_ _room_ _and_ _the_ _two_ _unknowing_ _looked_ _over. Her past self was_ _in_ _bed_ _and past Natsu_ _was_ _talking_ _to_ _her._ _She_ _listened_ _to_ _his_ _words_ _and_ _watched_ _him_ _freak_ _out,_ _trembling_ _in_ _fear_ _at_ _what_ _had_ _happened_ _to_ _her. This_ _memory_ _wasn't_ _in_ _her_ _mind_ _because_ _she_ _was_ _dead...her_ _mind_ _wouldn't_ _have_ _worked._

 _Dream_ _Natsu_ _watched_ _transfixed,_ _seeing_ _all_ _the_ _panic_ _of_ _his_ _real_ _self_ _and_ _feeling_ _it_ _as_ _well._ _His_ _hands_ _shook_ _as_ _they slowly released_ _his_ _counterpart._ _They_ _fell_ _at_ _his_ _sides_ _limply_ _as_ _he_ _watched_ _his_ _real_ _self_ _try_ _to_ _bring_ _Lucy_ _back_ _to_ _the_ _land_ _of_ _the_ _living._ _Wendy_ _entered_ _and_ _the_ _pair_ _kept_ _trying_ _to_ _revive_ _her._ _His_ _wide_ _eyes_ _found_ _hers,_ _melding_ _emotions_ _and_ _thoughts._ _He_ _looked_ _to_ _her, silently demanding_ _an_ _answer,_ _but_ _her_ _head_ _shook_ _negative_ _to_ _having_ _any_ _information_ _about_ _this._ _Tears_ _streamed_ _down_ _his_ _eyes_ _as_ _he_ _watched_ _the_ _scene._ _When_ _it_ _ended,_ _dream_ _Natsu_ _slumped_ _to_ _a_ _crouch_ _in_ _shock._

 _Ever_ _since_ _the_ _memory_ _popped_ _up,_ _he_ _turned_ _away_ _from_ _it,_ _unable_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _it_ _again._ _He_ _couldn't_ _ignore_ _the_ _words_ _though_ _and_ _his_ _eyes_ _burned_ _against_ _his_ _will_ _at_ _having_ _to_ _endure_ _it a second time._ _Once_ _was_ _terrifying_ _enough,_ _but_ _a_ _second_ _time_ _was_ _tearing_ _the_ _thread_ _of_ _his_ _will._ _He_ _was_ _grateful_ _when_ _it_ _was_ _over._ _He_ _looked_ _to_ _Lucy,_ _finding_ _her_ _shaking_ _and_ _looking_ _more_ _scared_ _than_ _he_ _had_ _seen_ _her_ _in_ _a_ _while._ _He_ _floated_ _over_ _and_ _took_ _her_ _in_ _his_ _arms. "It's_ _over._ _You're_ _safe._ _I_ _brought_ _you_ _back._ _I_ _saved_ _you_ _Lucy."_

 _She_ _mindlessly_ _clutched_ _his_ _shirt,_ _staring_ _into_ _the_ _darkness_ _where_ _her_ _bed_ _had_ _been. "I...didn't_ _know..._ _Why...didn't_ _I_ _know?"_

 _She_ _was_ _becoming_ _hysterical_ _and_ _he_ _quickly_ _grasped_ _her_ _face_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _him. "I'm_ _sorry_ _you_ _saw_ _that._ _I_ _didn't_ _mean_ _to_ _show_ _you._ _But_ _it_ _did_ _happen._ _That_ _wasn't_ _a_ _dream._ _You_ _did_ _die_ _for_ _a_ _moment._ _But_ _I_ _saved_ _you_ _Lucy._ _It's_ _okay_ _now._ _You're_ _way_ _past_ _that."_

" _I...killed_ _her..."_

 _He_ _looked_ _to_ _his_ _dream_ _self_ _grimly,_ _wanting_ _to_ _hate_ _his_ _counterpart_ _and_ _yet_ _feel_ _sorry_ _for_ _him_ _at_ _the_ _same_ _time._ _He_ _knew_ _exactly_ _what_ _the_ _dream_ _was_ _going_ _through_ _after_ _having_ _seen_ _that_ _and_ _the_ _amount_ _of_ _guilt_ _was_ _horrendous. But he possessively held_ _Lucy_ _in_ _his_ _arms_ _and_ _turned_ _to_ _face_ _dream_ _Natsu as he still couldn't forgive him._

 _Dream_ _Natsu_ _stared_ _at_ _his_ _shaking_ _hands. "I...I_ _killed_ _you..._ _I_ _did_ _that...it's_ _my_ _fault..."_

 _The_ _words_ _ate_ _at_ _her_ _and_ _she_ _struggled_ _to_ _get_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _grip_ _that_ _kept_ _her_ _from_ _going._ _She_ _knew_ _it_ _wasn't_ _good_ _to_ _run_ _to his illusion,_ _but_ _she_ _just_ _had_ _to_ _help_ _dream_ _Natsu!_ _If_ _she_ _didn't,_ _the_ _horror_ _of_ _it_ _all_ _would_ _eat_ _him_ _alive_ _forever._ _She_ _finally_ _shoved_ _away_ _from_ _real_ _Natsu_ _and_ _floated_ _over,_ _grabbing_ _the_ _shaking_ _hands_ _of_ _her_ _illusion. "Dream_ _Natsu...it's_ _okay._ _I'm_ _still_ _alive!_ _I'm_ _talking_ _to_ _you_ _right_ _now...if_ _I_ _wasn't_ _alive,_ _I_ _wouldn't_ _have_ _freed_ _you!_ _I'm_ _here!"_

 _Dream_ _Natsu_ _looked_ _at_ _her_ _for_ _a_ _second,_ _barely_ _taking_ _note,_ _before_ _clutching_ _her_ _to_ _his shaking arms._ _She_ _hugged_ _him_ _back_ _and_ _his_ _jaw_ _clenched,_ _eyes_ _squeezing_ _shut. "Lucy!_ _I'm_ _sorry!_ _I_ _didn't_ _mean_ _to_ _do_ _that_ _to_ _you!_ _If_ _I_ _would_ _have_ _known_ _that_ _would_ _have_ _happened_ _to_ _you,_ _I_ _would_ _have_ _never_ _told_ _you_ _to_ _stay_ _with_ _me!_ _I_ _would_ _have_ _made_ _you_ _go_ _back_ _to_ _the_ _real_ _me!_ _I_ _would_ _have_ _forced_ _you_ _to_ _do_ _so!_ _You_ _have_ _to_ _believe_ _me!"_

 _She_ _brushed_ _her_ _fingers_ _over_ _his_ _hair_ _to_ _soothe_ _him._ _Her_ _heart_ _went_ _out_ _to_ _him. "Shhh,_ _it's_ _okay." She_ _soothed. "I_ _know_ _you_ _didn't_ _do_ _that_ _on_ _purpose._ _You_ _were_ _only_ _acting_ _on_ _your_ _emotions._ _We_ _didn't_ _know_ _that_ _would_ _have_ _happened._ _It's_ _okay_ _though...you_ _saved_ _me_ _in_ _the_ _end."_

 _The_ _dream_ _hugged_ _her_ _tightly,_ _mind_ _whirling._ _Hard_ _eyes slowly opened_ _as_ _he_ _met_ _his_ _counterpart's jealous glare._ _He sullenly glared_ _back_ _for_ _a_ _second,_ _silently_ _communicating_ _everything_ _without_ _words_ _to_ _himself._ _He_ _finally_ _nodded_ _and_ _pulled_ _away_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _her. "Lucy._ _You_ _belong_ _with_ _him._ _I_ _can't_ _offer_ _you_ _everything._ _I_ _can't_ _be_ _with_ _you._ _I_ _won't_ _chance_ _that_ _happening_ _again._ _You're_ _so_ _much_ _stronger_ _now,_ _but_ _I_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _go_ _with_ _the_ _real_ _me." His_ _fingers_ _went_ _over_ _her_ _lips_ _when_ _she_ _tried_ _to_ _speak._ _He_ _smiled_ _softly,_ _brows_ _furrowing_ _sadly. "Thank_ _you._ _I'm_ _glad_ _that_ _we_ _had_ _our_ _adventures_ _together._ _I'll_ _still_ _be_ _with_ _you_ _rooting_ _you_ _on_ _like_ _I_ _said_ _I_ _would._ _I'll_ _still_ _be_ _here._ _I_ _am_ _you_ _remember?_ _I'm_ _your_ _mind._ _It's_ _okay...really."_

 _He silently floated_ _over_ _and_ _put_ _a_ _hand_ _on_ _her_ _shoulder._ _He_ _slowly_ _pulled_ _her_ _back_ _as_ _his_ _dream_ _self_ _loosened his hold_ _on her._ _He easily pulled_ _Lucy_ _into_ _his_ _arms,_ _tightening_ _his_ _hold_ _a_ _little_ _when_ _she_ _struggled_ _for_ _the_ _dream_ _him. He clasped the wrist that reached out to him and applied some strength when she fought him. The_ _darkness_ _was_ _fraught_ _with_ _panic,_ _uncertainty,_ _sadness,_ _resolve,_ _and_ _confusion._ _He_ _looked_ _to_ _his_ _dream_ _self_ _and_ _gave_ _a_ _nod_ _that_ _spoke_ _volumes._ _His_ _dream_ _self_ _smiled_ _back_ _and_ _nodded._

" _You_ _go_ _do_ _what_ _you_ _had_ _planned_ _to_ _do_ _Lucy._ _Remember_ _what_ _we_ _talked_ _about_ _okay?_ _I'll_ _be_ _fine_ _here." He_ _gave_ _her_ _a_ _dazzling_ _smile to reassure her and_ _looked_ _to_ _his_ _real_ _self_ _slyly._ _He_ _couldn't_ _resist_ _one_ _last_ _jab. "You_ _have_ _no_ _idea_ _what_ _you're_ _getting_ _into..."_

 _His_ _mouth_ _opened_ _to_ _argue,_ _but_ _his_ _dream_ _self_ _suddenly_ _started_ _glowing_ _and_ _disappearing_ _into tiny balls_ _of_ _light._ _The_ _last_ _thing_ _to_ _go_ _was_ _his_ _face._ _His_ _dream_ _self_ _quickly_ _stuck_ _out_ _his_ _tongue_ _at_ _him_ _and_ _then_ _was_ _gone._

 _Palms_ _dug_ _into_ _her_ _eyes_ _as_ _she_ _let_ _Natsu_ _hold_ _her._ _The_ _dichotomy_ _of_ _the_ _situation_ _was_ _just_ _too_ _much_ _to_ _take_ _in._ _She_ _had_ _just_ _freed_ _him_ _recently_ _and_ _they_ _had_ _had_ _so_ _many_ _great_ _talks_ _as_ _her_ _powers_ _were_ _developing_ _and_ _now,_ _all_ _of_ _a_ _sudden,_ _he_ _merged_ _back_ _with_ _her_ _subconscious. He had given up his sense of existence that she had unconsciously granted him. She_ _could_ _feel_ _a_ _thread_ _of_ _him_ _there,_ _much_ _like_ _her_ _memories._ _He_ _really_ _was_ _gone_ _this_ _time...even_ _though_ _the_ _real_ _Natsu_ _was_ _in_ _her_ _dream_ _holding_ _her_ _tightly._

 _He_ _took_ _in_ _her_ _emotions,_ _trying_ _to_ _understand_ _her conflict and confusion from the_ _whole_ _thing._ _She_ _had_ _been_ _dealing_ _with_ _this_ _since_ _the start and_ _it_ _was_ _amazing_ _she_ _hadn't_ _gone_ _crazy_ _from_ _the_ _beginning_ _at_ _the_ _confusion_ _of_ _it_ _all._ _The_ _potion_ _and_ _her_ _emotions_ _had_ _created_ _this_ _artificial_ _him_ _which_ _had_ _existed_ _of_ _his_ _own_ _will_ _in_ _her_ _subconscious...even_ _if_ _he_ _came_ _from_ _her_ _memories_ _that_ _were_ _in_ _her_ _mind_ _and_ _thus_ _a_ _part_ _of_ _her._ _He_ _had_ _to_ _admire_ _her_ _strength_ _about_ _the_ _whole_ _thing._ _Her will was_ _amazing._

 _At_ _length,_ _feeling that she_ _had_ _calmed_ _down_ _a_ _lot and she put this behind her,_ _his_ _throat_ _awkwardly_ _cleared_ _as_ _one_ _glaring_ _point_ _needed_ _to_ _be_ _asked_ _about. "So...what_ _did_ _I_ _mean_ _when_ _I_ _said_ _I_ _had_ _no_ _idea_ _what_ _I_ _was_ _getting_ _into?" Her_ _face_ _flared_ _all_ _over_ _again_ _as_ _she_ _refused_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _him._ _Her_ _mouth_ _opened_ _to_ _try_ _and_ _explain_ _and_ _failing_ _terribly._ _He_ _could_ _feel_ _all_ _of_ _her_ _emotions_ _and_ _the_ _strongest_ _amongst_ _them_ _was_ _lust._ _He_ _whirled_ _from_ _the_ _sheer_ _volume_ _of_ _it._ _It_ _pricked_ _every_ _nerve_ _ending_ _and_ _made_ _them_ _all_ _stand_ _on_ _end._ _His_ _heart_ _sped_ _up,_ _adrenaline_ _hitting_ _him_ _at_ _the_ _assault._

" _I...had_ _planned...something...special..." She_ _mumbled,_ _fingers_ _toying_ _with_ _each_ _other. "Something_ _I...wasn't_ _ready_ _for...before..._ _Now_ _that_ _I_ _have_ _this_ _power...I_ _thought...it_ _would_ _be...okay..."_

 _He_ _put_ _a_ _finger_ _under_ _her_ _chin_ _and_ _forced_ _her_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _him._ _Her_ _eyes_ _matched_ _the_ _emotions_ _pouring_ _onto_ _him_ _and_ _his_ _mind_ _clouded. "Lucy...?"_

 _She_ _was_ _caught_ _in_ _his_ _lowered_ _lids,_ _transfixed._ _Hands_ _made_ _their_ _way_ _up_ _his_ _chest_ _almost_ _by_ _themselves,_ _winding_ _around_ _his_ _neck. "Natsu..." Her_ _lips_ _narrowed_ _the_ _gap_ _toward_ _his._

 _He_ _kissed_ _her_ _harshly,_ _pulling_ _her_ _to_ _him._ _The_ _only_ _thing_ _he_ _could_ _sense_ _was_ _the_ _feel_ _of_ _her_ _and_ _the_ _strength_ _of_ _her_ _emotions_ _going_ _through_ _him_ _stronger_ _than_ _his_ _own_ _were._ _He_ _almost_ _lost_ _his_ _own_ _sense_ _of_ _self_ _with_ _as_ _much_ _as_ _was_ _running_ _through_ _him,_ _but_ _he_ _finally_ _came_ _to._ _He_ _pulled_ _away_ _and_ _pushed_ _her back enough_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _her. "Not_ _like_ _this..."_

 _Her_ _eyes_ _fluttered_ _open,_ _feeling_ _disappointment_ _as_ _her_ _lips_ _craved_ _his._ _Her_ _mind_ _tried_ _to_ _process_ _his_ _words. "What?"_

 _He_ _looked_ _at_ _her_ _in_ _all_ _seriousness. "Not_ _like_ _this." He_ _repeated._ _He_ _gave_ _her_ _a_ _tender_ _smile. "Wake_ _us_ _up_ _and_ _we_ _can_ _continue._ _I_ _want_ _the_ _real_ _you;_ _not_ _a_ _dream."_

 _Her_ _heart_ _swelled_ _at_ _his_ _words_ _and_ _she_ _smiled_ _through_ _her_ _tears,_ _but_ _quickly_ _became_ _pensive. "I...I_ _didn't_ _want_ _to...because...I_ _worried...worried_ _about...consequences...that_ _would_ _happen...after..." She_ _blushed_ _and_ _looked_ _down,_ _toying_ _with_ _his_ _shirt_ _in_ _her_ _nervousness. "I_ _was_ _just...trying_ _to...be_ _careful..."_

 _It_ _finally_ _clicked_ _in_ _his_ _mind_ _and_ _his_ _eyes_ _widened_ _a_ _little._ _He_ _honestly_ _never_ _considered that in_ _a_ _million_ _years,_ _but_ _when_ _the_ _thought_ _entered_ _his_ _mind,_ _he_ _didn't_ _deny_ _its_ _existence._ _He_ _didn't_ _turn_ _away_ _from_ _it_ _and_ _in_ _all_ _reality...he readily accepted_ _it._ _He_ _smiled_ _and_ _forced_ _her_ _to_ _look_ _at_ _him_ _again. "That's_ _not_ _a_ _consequence." He_ _murmured,_ _putting_ _his_ _chin_ _on_ _the_ _top_ _of_ _her_ _head. "Don't_ _worry_ _about_ _something_ _like_ _that._ _I_ _won't."_

 _Her_ _eyes_ _nearly_ _popped_ _out_ _of_ _her_ _skull_ _at_ _the_ _insinuation_ _of_ _his_ _words._ _Everything_ _he_ _was_ _implying..._ _She_ _looked_ _at_ _him,_ _feeling_ _seriously_ _unsure_ _and_ _small. She really wasn't too sure of this... "Are...you...sure?" She_ _pressed._

 _He_ _gave_ _her_ _a_ _reassuring_ _smile_ _and_ _felt_ _her_ _anxiety_ _slip_ _away_ _from_ _him. "I_ _couldn't_ _be_ _more_ _ready_ _for_ _such_ _an_ _adventure!_ _Now...how_ _do_ _we_ _wake_ _up?"_

 _Tears_ _spilled_ _from_ _her_ _eyes,_ _though_ _her_ _smile_ _was_ _brilliant._ _She_ _hugged_ _him_ _with_ _all_ _the_ _love_ _she_ _felt_ _and_ _all_ _the_ _excitement_ _of_ _the_ _sudden_ _turn_ _to_ _their_ _future. "I_ _can_ _take_ _care_ _of_ _that._ _Just_ _give_ _me_ _a_ _second._


	20. Chapter 20

His eyes fluttered open and he was groggy. Yet what he had experienced, the words that were spoken, the emotions...everything stayed with him perfectly. He tried to process everything that had happened, everything they all felt and said. He didn't hold anything over his dream self after having been given a chance and seen things he didn't think he ever would. He didn't blame the illusion for doing what it wanted: a chance to spend forever with the one he loved.

He slowly blinked and stared at the ceiling. He gradually tuned in to the full weight on his torso and the smell of her hair. He felt her breathing and the fast pace of her heartbeat over his chest. She was trembling a little from the effects and he knew why. He remembered...along with his words. A hand raised and landed on the small of her back. "Lucy..." She startled a little and his other hand went up to give her a light hug. "I know you're conscious. There's no way you'd still be asleep." His reached down and kissed the top of her head. "I know you're scared. I kind of am too. But we're in this together, got it?" He could still feel her shaking and knew that this was not a small matter for either of them to pass off. He tapped her back with a finger. "Sit up so I can see you, would you?"

She slowly did as told. She sat on his legs and watched as he leaned up on her pillow. She met his eyes, feeling like she had back at the beginning which was only understandable. Her fists clenched at her sides. She didn't know what to say or do; she had not encountered such a instance once whether awake or asleep...with either Natsu! Teeth bit her lip as she looked into his eyes. He was smiling with her as if they were trying to figure out what to do for the day. He was acting like it wasn't such a big deal, even though it was, and then she suddenly knew...she looked at him and she knew. It wasn't a big deal to Natsu because he didn't see it that way. He saw it as something positive and he had already accepted it, should it ever happen. He wasn't planning on running from this and he wouldn't accept second best. That's why he had her bring them back...because he was going to be true and follow this through to the end.

Her trepidation melted away as tears streaked down her face. He would be there for her from now on through everything. He would never push her away for any reason. He would support her and them with every ounce of magic and strength that he possessed. Her lip trembled as she wondered how she could have been so foolish as to doubt him for a second over something like this.

"This isn't something to cry or be sad about." He murmured, raising a hand to her cheeks. He wiped at her tears a few times, but they didn't stop. His arms moved and propped himself up on his elbows to get close to her face. "Believe in me Lucy...in us." His eyes softened as he got closer, eyes darting to her mouth. "You know...all this time since you came back, you wouldn't let me say what needed to be said. You said it was okay, but it wasn't. You let me do what I needed to do and never rushed me. But now that you're here, I can finally say what I want and you can't stop me." He gave her a charming smile, trying to convey everything. "I love you Lucy and I know you love me too. So let's not worry about what-ifs and just focus on being happy together. Anything that happens after that we'll take care of later, okay?"

From that whole speech, she only heard four whole words. They ran through her brain and replayed so many times. She had kept him from saying them, despite already knowing everything. She could sense his emotions when they were together and yet she didn't want him to do what he wasn't able yet. Now...seeing the look on his face...she knew everything was true and those words just cemented it. Her fingers unclenched and wrapped around his neck, pushing his lips to hers with a ferocity mingled with all her love. She ignored his surprised cry as they crashed back onto the mattress.

He stared at her closed eyes in shock that lasted all of half a second. Tears spilled onto his face, but he knew these were no longer sad. He kissed her back with all of the intensity that he felt, that he knew she felt. He clutched at her as the most precious gift he had ever received...more so than even his scarf. He clutched her to his chest, feeling how comfortable she was on top of him. His eyes slid closed as they let out every emotion they had built up and crashed over each other. Even though they already knew and had shared in the dream world, now was the time to do so in the real world.

She didn't want to let go of his mouth, but breathing was a requirement and she regretfully tore herself away. Her heartbeat was going faster than she could keep up with. She didn't want to separate any more from him than she could and rested her forehead on his. She took in their heaving frames, the hearts beating out of control, and...oh! Her eyes snapped open as she found him looking at her. She faltered for a second when she met his hooded lids and red face. She felt the sweat on his brow...or was that hers? This new instance was still scary and she wavered for a second. "N...Natsu..."

Her breath on his face made the back of his hair stand up. He looked to her lips, needing them again. "Lucy..." His hands tightly wrapped around on her hair and pushed her mouth over his. He invaded her mouth, feeling his sanity run away from him when their tongues locked. He liked the feel of her over him, but he couldn't stand to not be in full control. In the span of a breath, his arm wrapped around her waist to keep her pinned against him as he sat up. He delighted in the gasp as he sat them upright. He pulled her hair back and aimed for her neck. "Lucy..."

She weakly clutched at his shoulders as he bit her again, going limp. Her fingers went to grab his shirt, not finding it, and suddenly realizing he was shirtless. Her hands having all the freedom they wanted, roamed around his powerful arms, making his muscles twitch. She reveled at feeling how she affected him just as he had seriously affected her. Her nails bit into his upper arms when his tongue dared slide down near the edge of her top. She leaned back instinctively, shoulders arching backward.

One hand easily held her from falling, the other mindlessly reaching up to the thin strap keeping the annoying fabric in place. He moved it out of the way and licked underneath where it had been. He listened to her pant and it drove him insane. He was straining so much and he ached for something more than he had ever known needing. He needed her, needed more...

Her arms raised without her command and shuffled out from the straps. She suddenly felt exposed as a finger slowly pulled the top off her and threw it somewhere in the room. She looked down at him with hooded eyes, barely able to see him. Her mouth trembled, aching to touch him. "Natsu... Yes..."

He needed no more encouragement and his lips clamped down. Her cry was music as she arched back to give him more access. He raked a canine over her nipple, hearing her whimper. A bead of sweat fell down between her cleavage and he licked it away. He moved to the other side and applied the same dedication.

Her mind was whirling. She had thought she felt such amazing things with him and this blew all of those things away like they were nothing! She felt helpless against his ministrations and yet was ready to remain his prisoner forever if only they stayed like this! She ached, she was burning, and sweat was pouring off her. She could feel how hot he was and mixed with hers to bring her temperature up incredibly.

But it was unfair that he should have all the fun! She was feeling left out. She put trembling hands on his shoulders and made a weak attempt to push him away, but he resisted. She knew he wouldn't think she wanted him to stop at this point, but that she wanted to touch him and he was denying her that. "Natsu..." Her nails dug into his shoulders, scraping against his muscles.

He cringed a little at the strength she possessed and finally looked away. It was his one mistake and he suddenly found himself flat on the back of her bed again. He looked at her in shock that she could be so strong before he registered how she looked. Her hair was messy, her face was red, she was panting, sweaty, and looking at him with the most utmost need. He had never seen her more beautiful and he stopped to take her in before she leaned over his chest and clutched at his hair. He felt the slickness of her chest where he had been for a second before her tongue flicked at the hollow of his ear.

She felt him jolt underneath and smiled. She pressed on, hearing him pant and moan a little as she worked. She had cheated before she returned. The week before she came back, she had asked dream Natsu for some advice on how to drive the real him crazy. She wanted to know what he liked and thus, dream Natsu indulged her in a few pointers to his weak spots...though he sulked through the whole conversation...

She looked at him, feeling a little smug at having affected him so much. Her lips lowered to kiss him and his eagerly reached up to meet hers, but she paused and pulled back. She teased him a few times before she took in his lower lip and licked it. She was rewarded with a gasp and nibbled, getting another.

He almost couldn't stand just letting her do as she wished, but it felt too good to stop her. He let her have her fun for maybe another minute, enjoying every second, before he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled them over. He looked into her shocked eyes with a grin, looking at all where he had been and pondering where to go next. He took in her delectable, panting form and, with eyes pointedly staring at her, lowered his head to the valley between her chest and licked up.

Her head arched back, fists clenching on the sheets. She strained against him, but strong hands on her hips kept her from moving again. Teeth bit her lip. "Natsu... I...need-"

"Wait." He cut her off. He rested in on her trembling legs and pressed his mouth against the hollow of her navel. His hands trailed up and played with her chest. Her nails scratched his forearms, driving him on. He agonized his way to the top of her shorts and undid a button. He kissed the area and undid the zipper. Her smell hit him full force and he would've staggered back had he been standing. He smelled it for a second, letting it invade his nose.

She barely registered what he was doing. It all felt so good! She was barely aware that his fingers had snagged in her shorts or that her hips had lifted off the bed for the barest of seconds. Then cold air greeted her waist. "Natsu..." She panted, fingers digging into his hair. "I...I...need -"

He cut her off when his mouth locked down on her. She arched off the bed under him and his hands grabbed at her hips to prevent further movement. She cried out again and he licked her, feeling her yank on his hair and push him down at the same time.

How much more of this could she take?! She was about ready to pass out from the sheer volume of it all! How did he know to do these things? How did she know how to react to him? She wanted him to do it again and she wanted him to stop. She wanted him to replace his mouth with...with him. She wanted, no needed, to feel him! Her head lolled to the side, tongue licking her lips. "Natsu...please...please...I...need...you..."

He harshly swallowed and looked at her. Her eyes were shut, fully enjoying everything. He could see it written all over her face. She looked to him with difficulty when he had paused. Her hand reached for his, covering his and squeezing his fingers. Her words made him want to hurry, even if he wanted her to enjoy every second. "Lucy..."

She panted, absolutely shaking under him. She took in the sheen on his muscles, the flush in his face, the burning in his eyes and her resolve strengthened. "I need you..." She breathed. She reached for him, suddenly desperate. She quickly sat up, mind thinking only of that. She leaned to him, pushing him on the bed and settling over him. "I need you Natsu...I need you..." Her mouth captured his, harshly pressing her tongue against his. She arched against him, slipping against him and pressing upward. "It's not fair..." She breathed, clouded eyes looking to him. "It's not fair...that you don't feel...what I feel..." Her mouth attacked his chest, trying to mimic what he had done to her. "You should feel what I feel... Let me make you feel this..."

His muscles spasmed under her mouth and her hands. He let her do as he had done to her and closed his eyes at it. His mind slipped into oblivion, a hand reaching to the back of her head to feel her hair. His fingers idly combed through, clutching at her a few times when she hit a sensitive spot. His eyes popped open as her tongue trailed the hollow of his stomach muscles, harshly pushing into his navel. "Lucy!" His head arched back.

She was drunk on her lust and the power that she was bringing him to her level and she wanted to continue. She circled his navel a few times, admiring his physique, before her fingers reached up and picked at the ties to the shorts he always wore. She heard his sharp intake of breath and slipped the loose fabric down just enough.

He couldn't control himself when her mouth lowered past his waistline. He panted, sweating heavily, and wanting more. Palms dug into his eyes, teeth clenching. "Lucy... Lucy..." His eyes opened with difficulty and went to stare at her, finding her watching him. He managed to push himself up on his elbows and watch as she grabbed him and licked. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he almost fell backwards.

She was going on basic instinct and her overpowering urge to touch him everywhere. He was hot...everywhere. She licked him just to watch his face before she took him into her mouth. She moved, going by his reactions.

"Lucy..." His fists trembled, nails digging into his palms. "Stop...I can't...take it..." Hearing that only made her continue. "Lucy...I want...to feel...you...all of you... Now..."

She warred with herself to comply and keep going. But she was burning too much to deny what they both wanted in this second and let go. She did as he did to her and pulled his shorts off. She took a second to admire him fully nude, as he had done to her so many times, before she slowly climbed up to him.

He watched her get closer at a snail's pace and his grin slowly appeared as she neared him. She was toying with him...a cat playing with a mouse... He decided to let her have her fun for a second. She hovered over his body, fingers hooking into the sides of her underwear, before she playfully slid them down to her knees and finally tossed them along with the rest of her clothing.

His smile was infectious...always had been. Her lips twitched as she stopped just before his mouth and made to kiss him, but paused again. She brushed her chest against his, enjoying their cat-and-mouse game until his hands clutched at her hair and cut her off. She was pressed against him, fully connecting to his skin with every inch of hers...everything.

She jolted a little as his hips pushed up. Her hands clutched his hair, suddenly frantic again. "Natsu... yes...yes...please..." He arched up as she simultaneously moved back and they both gasped. She clutched at his arms, taking a second to find herself through the glorious, painful pleasure that had just assaulted her. She slowly moved a little, hearing him hiss and heard herself groan. She went on how he made her feel and soon the pain subsided. Her hands splayed across his chest as she held herself up and rocked.

His fingers dug into her hips, trying not to draw blood. His muscles responded and moved her quicker than she had been moving and she responded. They moved at a frenzied pace, the feeling of something neither had ever experienced before equally washing over them. He watched her move. He took in her form in all its resplendence and it drove him on to move her more. He wanted to feel her...more of her...all the way to her soul!

She clawed at him again, clutching at his shoulders and trying to reach for something. She felt like it wasn't enough...that there was more she could attain. There was so much more desire awaiting her, so much higher she could climb. She instinctively knew this and tried to reach for it. Her eyes looked to him...his flushed face, his smile, his sweaty muscles, the love in his eyes...and she felt like they had truly connected in this second. She pushed down again and arched forward. "I love you Natsu!" She breathed, seeking his lips.

He kissed her for a few more seconds, pressing her against him even as she moved against his chest. He could only withstand it for a few more movements before his arms wrapped around her and he suddenly flipped her to her back. "Lucy..." He breathed, attacking her neck. "Lucy..." Now in full control, he moved into her as he attacked the vein in her neck. She clutched at his back, legs wrapping around his waist.

She was almost frantic. "Please...yes...please Natsu...more...I can't...I can't...stand...it!"

His arms were pinned under her back and he used that stability as leverage. He moved faster, feeling all of her, losing it as she caused his mind into insanity. He could feel her tighten around him and he moved faster. Her response and her reactions drove him. He wasn't able to stop. He couldn't. He felt so alive, so powerful, so on top of the world!

She strained. "Yes! Almost...please...Natsu...please!" He leaned back enough to lick her chest and the combination broke her. Her eyes snapped open before rolling backwards as her entire body coiled as a spring and then was released. She cried out, clutching his arms as he moved. She trembled, spasmed, panted as he kept moving. He didn't stop and it neither did her release.

His brow was dripping. She had clutched onto him so tightly and it had dwarfed every other feeling she had given to him. He felt his body gather as if it were preparing for something. He reached for it, moving to keep it moving...to increase this feeling. It crept into his brain and took a hold of him. It took a hold of his body and he clutched her to him, eyes squeezing shut as he choked her name. He moved again and again, not wanting this high to end and then it did and he buried his face in her neck. He spasmed, moved, spasmed, felt her slide against him, and then collapsed to catch his breath.

She panted with him, feeling overly hot and sweaty and exhausted. Her hands weakly tried to remain wrapped around his torso, trying to keep him against her as long as possible. Her legs remained around his waist, shaking from the severity of it all. They were silent for the longest time, neither looking at each other as they came down from the highest part of themselves.

Finally feeling able to move, he pushed back on his elbows with difficulty and looked at her. He took in ever inch of her; nothing escaping his notice. He gently smiled at her, locking eyes and sharing this feeling with her. She smiled back at him, shaking fingers resting against his cheek. His smile slowly fell away as he stared at her in all seriousness. "I love you Lucy."

Her smile widened as she went to push him to her. "I love you Natsu..." She breathed, tenderly kissing him. She kissed him for a bit before he suddenly broke into a grin and started shaking. She let him move away, looking at him in confusion. "What?"

His eyes glinted knowingly. "Is this what you meant when you said you'd shower later?" He cracked, trying not to laugh at her and failing.

Her face flared up again, but she didn't look pleased that he had ruined the moment. She pouted when his grin didn't dissipate. "...Yes..." She admitted, looking away.

He laughed at her and moved away to sit up. The cold air met both of them, even if they were still burned from the other's touch. "I could use one myself." He hopped off the bed and held his hand to her. "How about we clean up?"

She sheepishly smiled and took his hand with a nod. She had all of one second to get her feet on the ground before Natsu picked her up and hauled her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and headed to the bathroom. She squealed in shock before a hand slapped his back. "Natsu! Put me down!"

"I will when we get in the bathroom." He mused, ducking low enough so she didn't hit her head on the doorway. He had never felt this happy or wanted to tease her so much as in this moment. He indulged himself, only knowing that this happiness would continue.

 _NSFW_ _chapter_ _inspiration:_ _leons-7._ _deviantart._ _com_ _/art_ _/NaLu-NSFW-535313433_


	21. Chapter 21 - epilogue

He refused to share her with anyone for the longest time. He didn't want her any farther away than his arms could reach out to her. Any time she strayed across her room for whatever reason, for any length of time, was too long and he would march right over and demand her attention. He knew she wasn't intentionally doing it because, as she put it, she had to eat and use the bathroom some time! But he couldn't help it, after such a connection that they shared and having turned such a point in their lives, he felt that her being far away was unacceptable. He was greedy and possessive...he freely admitted it!

The first time he thought that they had shared something truly remarkable, she left shortly after! He held it over her and often pouted whenever he brought it up. He wouldn't let her forget that after so much emotion they had shared and the perfect night asleep after he had finally rescued her seemed thrown to the wind when she told him to not come after her.

She had tried to understand all of this and not yell at him whenever she tried to finish out her masterpiece. He wouldn't let her write because she was right there and should do something with him. She tried not to squabble with him, but mostly failed...at least until he hauled her to him and started attacking her with his mouth. She always lost any scuffle she tried to win because he knew her weak point and mercilessly attacked it. Every time she decided that it wasn't worth the struggle and gave in...ending every 'discussion' in her bed.

Things had become almost too perfect, as if this were the dream world all over again. But she knew the difference now and this truly was reality. She often times would wait until he fell asleep at night before sitting up and watching him and wondering just how they had managed to arrive at such a strange, magical, mystical point in their relationship. Whenever she tried to trace things back step by step, it all seemed too difficult to see ever happening and she wondered if fate had played a role in their finally arriving here to these days. If it was the case, she was mentally grateful.

They had been friends, comrades, allies, a team, and now lovers. They entered into this new label with all of the intensity and upbeat, positive attitude that they had after Natsu had brought her to Fairy Tail, and then made a team with her. This was totally different than any of those simple things, but they turned to it with smiles and steadily walked onward with hands clasped together.

In the span of a few days, they had disappeared from the city of Magnolia...yet no one had searched for them. No one had come knocking on her door and when she asked Natsu about it, he had mentioned reporting to the guild about when she was coming home just after she had informed him. She surmised they knew more than Natsu mentioned and had probably tried to let them be.

In those days, Magnolia had also disappeared...even if it was still right outside her window. They had done so much, talked so much, adventured so much in the dream world... They had kissed, touched, laughed, cried, worried, loved, flown, blown things up, fought each other, squabbled, and made up every time. She showed him the universe that she had previously flown to, had finally agreed to fight him knowing that neither would get hurt, and helped him create things when they were in his mind. He could never have her power, but a dreamer still could do things in their dreams and thus he could still hold a shadow of a candle to what she had done in the beginning. She told him more about her powers, showed him a little of what she was capable of, and described the spells she had learned.

She had acquiesced to his demands until the pantry ran out. She had insisted they go out shopping, much to his hesitation, and finally won when she said she would go with or without him. He refused to let go of her hand the entire way to the store and carried everything back to her apartment. It all felt so quaint, so surreal, to do this. It probably wasn't the first time he'd helped her stock up the apartment, but with the way they acted to each other nowadays, it might as well have been.

She demanded that they go to the guild hall a week later. She knew everyone had been insistent upon seeing them and were getting impatient. She knew because she had entered into some of the minds of those at rest and searched them for information. She also had a lot to inform their guild master on concerning this power. She knew she would also have to try and explain herself to him after he told her not to use the power anymore. She hadn't promised not to, but he had ordered it and she knew she may very well be punished for going against his wishes.

She argued and argued until he finally gave in. He really didn't want to break the bubble of happiness that surrounded them, but he kind of missed everyone as well and went with her to the hall. He kept her hand in his and refused to let go even after they entered, not wanting to part with her despite knowing all of the looks and comments they would get.

The reception for when she returned was almost as impressive as after she woke up. People wanted her to show them what she had learned, but she explained it wasn't as easy as that. Gray and Gajeel poked fun at him, trying to bait him, but he easily dodged their attempts at embarrassment by simply telling them the truth to anything they brought up. He shocked them in return, easily countering with telling them both to go and finally snatch their respective women and stop being stupid. A defensive fight ensued after that and things seemed to slip back to normal.

She found a quiet moment and had a long, tense talk with master about what had happened during her absence...and even after she returned. She of course left out some of the more erotic stuff and focused on the use of her powers. She had braced herself for punishment when all was said and done, but received none. She was confused as to why when she knew she had done against what he stated before, but was only informed that he was glad things had worked out well in the end. She had seen him eying Natsu during their talks and knew he wasn't just talking about her dream magic. She was relieved and thanked him profusely...especially when he didn't order her not to use it from here on out.

After their return, things seemed to go back to normal...aside from the fact that Natsu had been at her place even more than he had ever been. He pretty much slept there every night...not that she minded though. They went on missions together, she had finished her story and lent it to Levy to read and received it back a week later with profuse gushing and a red face. After that, she safely tucked the stack of papers away for safekeeping. Such words were precious to her and she didn't intend on publishing it, at least not for a very long time, as she kept dream Natsu with her through those words. He still lived on within those pages and in her mind and her memories, and the more memories she made with Natsu meant that dream Natsu could also finally experience those things with her as well.

Time slipped by as it always did. The days turned into months. Every day passed beautifully, full of fun and laughter and hard times. Natsu became more protective of her whenever they were out on a mission and she didn't fault him for that, but still tried to hold her own. She was unable to use her dream magic for most of the time, given that her physical body was useless in battle. Thus she mainly used it during their times in Magnolia, when she was safe in her apartment and mostly with him.

For the most part, it was a recon type of lost magic. The person could enter into their target's subconscious or bring that person into their own. If the she snuck into the mind of another, she became a hidden aspect of the person's memories and thoughts and could conceal herself, yet leave herself open to all sorts of feelings and information...thus finding out whatever she needed to know from the target. But whenever she brought another into her mind, she fully controlled everything that happened and had full ability to attack that person's consciousness, leaving them incapacitated in the end. It really was a brilliant piece of a lost art that she had stumbled upon; both defensive and offensive with very few able to count her ability.

She had a few conversations with her teacher about other possible aspects of the lost magic. Something hidden had suddenly come within the realm of her subconscious one day in her dream world while with Natsu that sparked her interest. She asked lots of questions and got some interesting information. She kept all this and ended the talk with her teacher saying she should rewrite the book to contain more information about her current abilities...as it was poorly written due to the fact that it was created only after shortly using the potion and had been a means of capturing any details in the first place...much as she had done. The writer had never gotten around to fixing it after mastering the art.

She pondered doing so and eventually started in on recreating her teacher's book with much more accuracy and ended up placing it next to the first volume in the guild library. She insisted it stay there for future updates and that no one else needed to know of such an ability since it was a magic one could easily corrupt and use for evil. If she wanted to, she could render the person brain dead or unable to ever wake up from the dream world.

She grew more thoughtful as the days passed, staring out into the sky more and more as she contemplated parts of the talk with her teacher. Before, when she didn't know what was going on, she dismissed the small hidden part in her mind. The more she focused on it while asleep, the more it became clearer. She had tried to contact it, getting only base emotions and nothing more.

" _What_ _are_ _you_ _doing_ _Lucy?" She_ _looked_ _over_ _to_ _him_ _from_ _her_ _place_ _on_ _the_ _roof_ _of_ _her_ _apartment._ _She_ _had_ _been_ _staring_ _out_ _at_ _the_ _city_ _quietly_ _for_ _what_ _felt_ _like_ _days, even though they had been merely playing hide and seek throughout the city._ _He_ _plopped_ _down_ _next_ _to_ _her_ _and_ _smiled. "We_ _should_ _do_ _something_ _fun_ _and_ _not_ _just_ _sit_ _here!_ _We_ _can_ _sit_ _in_ _the_ _real_ _world." His_ _smile_ _widened. "What_ _do_ _you_ _want_ _to_ _do_ _today?"_

 _She smiled at him and ignored his questions. Her eyes became contemplative and soft as they looked out at the city again. Hands wrapped around her legs and drew them to her chest. The flowy white dress that she had worn a few times silently flapped in the wind she created. She leaned against him and was silent._

 _He blinked, but wrapped an arm around her. A brow rose in confusion. "Lucy? What's going on? Are you okay?" She looked like she was thinking about something serious, but good. He thought back to the look she had and remembered that she was acting strange for the last few weeks now and often had this look about her. He didn't know why and any time he approached her about it to get information and understanding, she deftly shoved his questions away and didn't let him discuss it._

 _They were in her mind and thus she was careful about what she let him know. She usually brought them here whenever he wanted to do something fun and ever since her epiphany, she had made sure to keep certain things away until she felt okay with it all. Despite having his loyalty and remembering his words, she hadn't wanted to share this feeling with him just yet. She jealously guarded it for a few days, wanting it all to herself first. She had wondered about just when it was okay to let him in on things and had brought him again to her mind tonight to finally clue him in._

" _I'm_ _okay_ _Natsu..." She_ _didn't_ _look_ _his_ _way,_ _but_ _she_ _knew_ _his_ _attention_ _was_ _on_ _her. "I_ _was_ _just_ _imagining_ _something_ _that_ _I_ _want_ _to_ _create._ _It's_ _really_ _tricky_ _and_ _I_ _can't_ _figure_ _out_ _the_ _details." Her_ _lips tilted. "Would_ _you_ _like_ _to_ _see_ _what_ _I_ _have_ _so_ _far_ _for_ _inspiration?"_

 _He nodded, feeling utterly confused as to what she was insinuating, but glad to be given something. Her hand pointed in front of them and he looked to it. All of a sudden, they were sitting on the park bench in Magnolia, with the park behind them and a different scene in front of them. He stared at the vision mere feet away from him before his eyes quickly widened._

 _The scene was a fall afternoon, the sun having mostly gone down. Lucy was holding what looked like a bag of groceries and looking extremely amused, although the vision of him wasn't. This was mostly due to the small, young girl laughing and yanking on his lip and tilting backwards as he gave her a ride on his shoulders. The sunlight made the child's hair appear orange...although he surmised it was more of a mix between pink and blond than anything. There were black arm bands on her wrists, very similar to the ones they usually wore._

 _Before he could even think or really process what just happened before him, in the span of a few seconds it appeared and then suddenly vanished. An entirely new scene popped up, totally different with the same feel. The two of them appeared on top of the world with the way they were smiling. He was holding onto Lucy who was holding onto a baby looking barely a month old. The infant was wrapped up in a blue blanket. Tufts of pink hair stuck out. He instinctively knew, somehow, that the child was male._

 _Again the scene was there and done with yet another one after it. Lucy was standing behind him, a grand smile on her face and love in her eyes. In her arms was an infant of perhaps half a year old. This one was a girl with pink hair in pigtails and brown eyes...trying to spit out fire. There was a miniature version of his scarf wrapped around her neck. The infant rested on his head and he reached up to caress the soft locks. He stared at the image of himself, seeing how utterly happy and proud his eyes were._

 _Another image appeared. This looked more like a family portrait than anything...except there was only one person smiling: Lucy. Behind her, perhaps unknown to her, was an annoyed vision of him minus his scarf and a boy...though barely young enough to be called that. This child was the oldest of all previous visions by far...perhaps ten or so. This child had dark blond hair with brown eyes and looked at him very unappreciatively as he possessively grasped part of the sweater Lucy was wearing. The boy was also wearing his precious scarf._

 _The fourth scene didn't vanish. It remained there to his wide, shocked eyes. He sat and stared at it transfixed and unable to look away. He forgot where he was, what was going on around them, who he was with, and to even breathe. All he could see was the young boy sticking his tongue out at him and the older vision of him looking back scornfully, hand on his hip._

" _Hmm...this_ _is_ _a_ _tough_ _one..." She_ _bemused,_ _propping_ _her_ _head_ _up_ _with_ _help_ _of_ _a_ _knee._ _She_ _affectionately_ _smiled_ _as_ _all_ _four_ _still_ _images_ _appeared_ _next_ _to_ _each_ _other._ _She_ _eyed_ _them_ _all,_ _lips_ _pursing_ _thoughtfully. "I_ _can't_ _figure_ _out_ _how_ _the_ _hair_ _is_ _going_ _to_ _look_ _or_ _which_ _one_ _it'll_ _be." Her_ _playful_ _eyes_ _looked_ _his_ _way,_ _already_ _knowing_ _how_ _he_ _was_ _feeling_ _since_ _she_ _had_ _been_ _keeping good tabs_ _on_ _him_ _since_ _she_ _moved_ _them_ _to_ _the_ _park. "What_ _do_ _you_ _think,_ _Natsu?"_

 _He snapped to and looked at her. She had a small smile and mirthful eyes...nothing much out of the ordinary. Yet she seemed very knowledgeable and grown up to him all of a sudden. She had turned from a girl to a full-fledged woman and her cheeks were tinged a healthy, glowing pink. She suddenly seemed very different from him, again having matured by leaps and bounds while he was left behind._

 _He blinked and tears fell from his eyes. He startled and raised a hand to his cheek. When had that happened? He wasn't even aware of it even starting! But with what she had suddenly thrown at him, it was no wonder! His mouth opened to say...anything, but nothing would come out. His mind couldn't even begin to create syllables, let alone a full word about what he just experienced. He suddenly felt himself shaking at the weight of everything._

 _Her eyes shyly lowered to the ground. "Like I said...this is tricky...I can't figure out what it's going to look like...yet..."_

 _She kept hinting at this and he knew she wanted him to say anything. Her last words gave him the push to finally move. In a second, he had jumped off the bench and had hauled her into the air with his arms. He felt himself shake at the excitement, the overwhelming sense of love, and the new road to their future she had shown him. He twirled her, feeling his smile widen as she smiled back at him._

 _He finally put her down and hugged her tightly, relishing in this feeling that she had created. He was honored and thankful all at the same time. She had given him this and she had allowed him to give him this gift. He would never be able to express himself in neither words nor emotions to ever truly tell the depths of his heart in this second...even if she could probably sense what he was feeling._

 _He finally pulled away and kissed her. He kissed her and abruptly pulled away to kiss her cheeks, her chin, her nose, her eyes, her forehead, her head, her hands. He bobbed around as if he couldn't figure out which one to do first. He was trembling from the severity of what he felt and he felt like he could conquer the world right now!_

 _She was relieved and happy that he was so excited. All through what they had shared and said and done together for months, she was still nervous about what he would say. Again, she chided herself for ever doubting him. She sat in his lap when he pulled her to the bench with him. She rested her chin on his head and felt the chaos of his happy emotions, sending out her more soothing ones in return._

" _How_ _did_ _you_ _know?" He_ _finally_ _choked_ _out,_ _carefully_ _squeezing_ _her_ _waist. He depended on her to ground him and let her hand run through his hair._

 _She smiled. "I'll show you if you like." She pulled away and reached a hand up. She made the day turn into night and the stars shown brightly. Her hand extended palm up as she gently smiled. "Don't be afraid...it's okay. Come here."_

 _He watched her intently, eyes widening again when a star slowly came from the sky, almost shyly so, and landed in her palm. It was a single, tiny star that twinkled when she lowered her hand toward them. He stared at this yellow glow, feeling awed as a sudden burst of consciousness came from the star. His tears fell again and he let them, feeling a loving smile creep on his face. He held her to him as they stared at the being in her hands, in her._

 _Her smile widened, eyes tearing. "I know you're shy now, but I know you won't be. Don't worry; you're safe with us. We'll take good care of you." Her hand moved a little closer to his face. "He'll take good care of us both. Don't worry."_

 _He watched the glow intensify just a bit before it went back to its regular size. He took that as a sign of approval and smiled. He looked at it, getting an intense feeling of wanting to touch it...to hold it in his arms... "Ah. Leave it to me!"_

 _She stared at it a second longer before her hand raised to the sky. "I understand. You're tired. It's been a lot to take in, I know. Go back for now." The light floated from her fingers and back to the rest of the stars, disappearing and twinkling one last time before it became nothing more than another star in the sky._

 _He watched it go, feeling a little left out and expectant. His chin leaned on her shoulder as he continued to stare at where it was. Their star. That one right there was theirs. He stood and held her in his arms. He kissed her gently with all the love and gratitude he felt. "Lucy...wake us up. I want to kiss the real you. This is cheating."_

A second later, she slowly sat up, watching him awake. He never came to as easily as she did since this power was still so foreign to him, even if he could now remember his dreams. She was beyond him in this...strong enough to feel another consciousness within her own...

He sat up and felt a chill on his face where his tears were. He stared at her and sat up, crossing his legs and pulling her into his lap. She wrapped hers around him in return. He sat there in silence, feeling himself shake from so many feelings and the tears running from his eyes. What did he say first? What did he do first...aside from kiss the daylights out of her?

She took initiative and hugged him tightly. He returned her hold and kissed her shoulder lightly. He pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. His fingers toyed with part of her hair, thumbs wiping the tears that had also fallen from her face. They stared at each other in the dark of the poor moonlight, sharing a moment of such magnitude as had never been witnessed between them yet. He exhaled a shaky breath and pulled her head toward his to rest their foreheads together.

He sincerely tried to find words for this and failed. She had done so much for him and now she had given him this. He looked forward to it with all his heart. "Lu...cy..." He whispered, mouth searching hers. "I love you..."

"I love you too, Natsu..." She kissed him lightly. They remained like that in the dark, arms around each other, feeling each other, sensing each other. Never had a moment been more appropriate or more perfect. Their universe had just shifted again...but both felt a swell of excitement in their veins. This new beginning had given them something tangible; something created from their love. They both looked forward to that day which would change them, mold them, alter their thinking and make it higher, and bring their universe yet again to a new step in the chapter of their lives.

 _First scenario inspiration: zippi44. deviantart art/ Walking-home-344176994_

 _Second scenario inspiration: leons-7. deviantart art/ Family-Fairy-Tail-493479942_

 _Third scenario inspiration: chengggg. deviantart art/ Nalu-Week-That-s-my-girl-504423831_

 _Fourth scenario inspiration: zippi44. / art/ Still-fightin-over-mommy-487188227_


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